GROUP BLAMES FG FOR ECONOMIC FAILURE
BY PETER EGWUATU & PROVIDENCE OBUH
Some group of Nigerians,named (Let there be light in Nigeria ) will Monday join the rest of the world in protesting against government's involvement in private affairs businesses as well its lack of commitment in alleviating the suffering of the masses.
Globally, Nigeria is recognised and reckoned as African oil producing giant; the third richest country in the African continent and the 6th largest producing oil country in the world, yet it is a country in darkness whose populace remains trapped in penury, says Mr, Malachy Ugwumadu, the Group Coordinator.
He attributed the unacceptable level of unemployment, insecurity, infrastructural decay, corruption and human capital development deficit generally to the incessant power outage.
Speaking at a press briefing, weekend, in Lagos to intimate newsmen of the million march rally to take place in Lagos, today, said, ' Stakeholders and other well meaning Nigerians will converge in front of the Lagos State Teaching Hospital LASUTH Ikeja.
From there, they will move straight to the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola's office to deliver the letter of protest on the darkness that has enveloped the The march will simultaneously take place in Abuja and Port Harcourt, London as well as Washington DC and New York.'
Malachy said 'Nigeria exported 1,024,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the United States of America in December 2010, yet, her citizens are perpetually in darkness, they enjoy electricity supply for just a few hours when it is available in a day or days.'
Citing the Economist Magazine: In 2010, he explained that the country's population estimated that about 150 million people uses as much power grid as the area around Narita Airport alone in Tokyo, worst of all, South Africa with a population of just about 47 million people generates about 4000 MW about 55 times more energy per head and America 100 times more.
' The President Goodluck Jonathan- led Federal Government whose political party (the PDP) has been in power since the return of civil rule in 1999, promised to increase electricity mega watts from 1,500 to about 10,000mw into the (national grid) in December 2005. Today, eleven years after, the country is yet to provide up to 3,000mw.
While commenting on the removal of fuel subsidy, Malachy, recounts that like the controversial removal of petroleum subsidy, the proposed increase of electricity tariff clearly underscores the point that once this present government is broke and clueless about her impecunious status, the Nigeria people are made to bear the brunt.
'Undoubtedly the perennial darkness in this country is directly responsible for the unacceptable level of unemployment, insecurity, infrastructural decay, corruption and human capital development deficit generally.'
The argument of the Federal Government as demonstrated in the proposed increase of tariffs on electricity by the National Electricity Commission as well as the recent composition of the Presidential Committee on Nuclear Energy is as lame' and untenable as the proposed removal of petroleum subsidy, in that the common denominator underling the twin anti-people policies of government is that once the government is broke on account of its ineptitude and corruption; the already impoverished citizens of this country are further exposed to bear the brunt of their inefficiency.