Light is a key element to human existence and development. The creation account declares that before the creation of light, the earth was without form and void. Simply put; it must have been in my opinion, outright chaos. This implies that a place or nation in darkness is a place or nation without form, order and certainly without shape. Without a doubt, a place in darkness is in no way beautiful, attractive; or useful to anyone. A place, person or nation without light is a place, person or nation without vision, progress and order.
Of a truth, nothing good can be achieved without light. We need light to see, for industries to produce or manufacture their goods, for rendering service, for hospitals to function properly and save lives, and for education, research, food preservation etc.
For economic growth to occur, there must be light; as electricity is the basic foundation on which the financial or economic growth and development of a nation hinge. Light is absolutely essential to human existence; whether we believe it or not.
It is for this singular reason that the light situation in our nation today brings me to tears whenever I think about it. I can’t stop thinking about it because we live, sleep, eat, breathe, belch and regurgitate darkness in Nigeria, at the moment.
You can therefore imagine how amused I was when I read in the newspaper some days ago that the government had slashed electricity tariff by 50 per cent. To be quite honest, I hadn’t had such a laugh in ages as the stress level in Nigeria has increased tremendously and nearly taken away laughter from our vocabulary. How do you reduce electricity tariff when there is absolutely no light? Of what use is it to tell me you built or bought me a house when I cannot have the keys or live in the house?
What is really the problem in the power sector of the proverbial giant of Africa? Has the giant grown so big that it has become insensitive to the needs and cries of her citizens for improved power generation and distribution as well as improved quality of life? We read about the billions supposedly spent to improve the almighty power sector but rather than the billions to translate into light, darkness has increased.
As a matter of fact, the light situation has steadily grown from bad to worse, to comatose and finally dead. Dare I say that a nation in darkness is a nation in shambles?
You may want to quickly remind me that the present administration inherited this problem of the half-child; (No disrespect meant to the literary giant, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who used this symbol in his popular play, “A Dance of The Forest”), and you would be totally right. This problem has lingered from the days of the ECN to NEPA to the days of NEP Plc to the PHCN. Then came the privatisation tale and we all thought it would go the same route as the Nitel privatisation. The metamorphosis of the PHCN to the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company in the Lagos metropolitan area has not helped in any way.
Be that as it may, I do not believe that the electricity problem in Nigeria has defied all solutions. I am of the opinion that the people saddled with the responsibility of fixing the problem are either not sincere or simply incompetent.
If that be the case, are we saying we are incapable of getting qualified people who can get the job done? We have numerous Nigerians who are exceptionally gifted and qualified in every sphere of life and who can genuinely find a lasting solution to this ugly drama. Why then have they not been called upon? And if the white syndrome is our problem, what happened to getting qualified and certified foreign experts to correct this ridiculous anomaly?
You might want to argue that they have tried and done all of that but the so-called Nigerian Factor will not let it fly. Then by all means, arrest, imprison, eliminate or even assassinate the ugly monster called the Nigerian Factor. Except of course there are dirty linens that must not be washed or aired outside for all to see.
My point is, the nation loses valuable income running into billions of dollars each day due to incessant and continuous power outage. Giant and small corporations alike are gradually crumbling under the effect of the high running and maintenance cost associated with generating their own power supply and are now moving their operations to neighbouring African countries where the electricity supply is better and more stable. Many small businesses have shut down completely due to the light situation. Many more are struggling to survive as they are operating below capacity whilst incurring high overhead running costs, mainly associated with generating their own power supply.
The masses are similarly bedevilled with the responsibility of generating their own electricity. The dangers of the attendant pollution of the atmosphere and environment with the toxic carbon monoxide that these generators emit to both the human body and the ozone layer cannot be over-emphasised.
A word they say is enough for the wise. I appeal to the powers that be to come to the urgent and desperate rescue of the Nigerian masses; “Let there be light”!
Of a truth, nothing good can be achieved without light. We need light to see, for industries to produce or manufacture their goods, for rendering service, for hospitals to function properly and save lives, and for education, research, food preservation etc.
For economic growth to occur, there must be light; as electricity is the basic foundation on which the financial or economic growth and development of a nation hinge. Light is absolutely essential to human existence; whether we believe it or not.
It is for this singular reason that the light situation in our nation today brings me to tears whenever I think about it. I can’t stop thinking about it because we live, sleep, eat, breathe, belch and regurgitate darkness in Nigeria, at the moment.
You can therefore imagine how amused I was when I read in the newspaper some days ago that the government had slashed electricity tariff by 50 per cent. To be quite honest, I hadn’t had such a laugh in ages as the stress level in Nigeria has increased tremendously and nearly taken away laughter from our vocabulary. How do you reduce electricity tariff when there is absolutely no light? Of what use is it to tell me you built or bought me a house when I cannot have the keys or live in the house?
What is really the problem in the power sector of the proverbial giant of Africa? Has the giant grown so big that it has become insensitive to the needs and cries of her citizens for improved power generation and distribution as well as improved quality of life? We read about the billions supposedly spent to improve the almighty power sector but rather than the billions to translate into light, darkness has increased.
As a matter of fact, the light situation has steadily grown from bad to worse, to comatose and finally dead. Dare I say that a nation in darkness is a nation in shambles?
You may want to quickly remind me that the present administration inherited this problem of the half-child; (No disrespect meant to the literary giant, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who used this symbol in his popular play, “A Dance of The Forest”), and you would be totally right. This problem has lingered from the days of the ECN to NEPA to the days of NEP Plc to the PHCN. Then came the privatisation tale and we all thought it would go the same route as the Nitel privatisation. The metamorphosis of the PHCN to the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company in the Lagos metropolitan area has not helped in any way.
Be that as it may, I do not believe that the electricity problem in Nigeria has defied all solutions. I am of the opinion that the people saddled with the responsibility of fixing the problem are either not sincere or simply incompetent.
If that be the case, are we saying we are incapable of getting qualified people who can get the job done? We have numerous Nigerians who are exceptionally gifted and qualified in every sphere of life and who can genuinely find a lasting solution to this ugly drama. Why then have they not been called upon? And if the white syndrome is our problem, what happened to getting qualified and certified foreign experts to correct this ridiculous anomaly?
You might want to argue that they have tried and done all of that but the so-called Nigerian Factor will not let it fly. Then by all means, arrest, imprison, eliminate or even assassinate the ugly monster called the Nigerian Factor. Except of course there are dirty linens that must not be washed or aired outside for all to see.
My point is, the nation loses valuable income running into billions of dollars each day due to incessant and continuous power outage. Giant and small corporations alike are gradually crumbling under the effect of the high running and maintenance cost associated with generating their own power supply and are now moving their operations to neighbouring African countries where the electricity supply is better and more stable. Many small businesses have shut down completely due to the light situation. Many more are struggling to survive as they are operating below capacity whilst incurring high overhead running costs, mainly associated with generating their own power supply.
The masses are similarly bedevilled with the responsibility of generating their own electricity. The dangers of the attendant pollution of the atmosphere and environment with the toxic carbon monoxide that these generators emit to both the human body and the ozone layer cannot be over-emphasised.
A word they say is enough for the wise. I appeal to the powers that be to come to the urgent and desperate rescue of the Nigerian masses; “Let there be light”!
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