By Nicholas Walter
North blackout: President sends army to combat vandals, 19 governments convene.
Apart from Niger and Kwara, 17 states in the North are without electricity supply in the last two weeks.
The worst affected are Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe and Katsina, who have not had supply in the last two weeks.
Others are Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi and Benue.
Reports that commercial activities are in dire state in the region following the outage occasioned by vandalism of the power transmission line in parts of northern Nigeria.
As part of efforts to resolve the issue, the Governor of Gombe State, Muhammadu Yahaya, who is also the Chairman of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, convened a joint meeting involving the 18 other governors from the region and traditional rulers in Kaduna State on Monday.
Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll and other prominent monarchs from the region, including Shehu of Borno, Umar El-Kanemi; Emir of Zazzau, Nuhu Bamali; Ohinoyi of Ebira land, Etsu Nupe, Yahaya Abubakar, Emir of Kazaure and Emir of Bauchi were also at the meeting.
Reports that commercial activities are in dire state in the region following the outage occasioned by vandalism of the power transmission line in parts of northern Nigeria.
The exorbitant cost of gasoline and diesel in Nigeria has made matters worse by forcing factories to close and further engulfing houses in darkness.
The length of time it has taken to resolve this catastrophe highlights how severely our electrical industry lacks the capacity to handle complex issues.
To prevent any disruptions in the future, this needs to be fixed.Kwankwaso went on to say, “We must take advantage of the wealth of resources this nation has to offer and investigate alternate power sources to meet our energy demands.In order to guarantee better electrical supply, the governors and monarchs urged the federal government to solve the ongoing blackout in northern states, as well as to make investments in more transmission lines and a more varied energy source.”Forum resolves to call on the Federal Government and relevant Agencies to urgently address the current electricity power blackout affecting most of the Northern States due to vandalism of electricity transmission infrastructure,” stated a statement signed by Governor Yahaya on behalf of the group.
In order to better connect our region and increase our energy resilience, this issue not only highlights the fragility of vital infrastructure but also the necessity of constructing more transmission lines and diversifying our energy source.Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the New Nigeria People’s Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, expressed regret over the widespread blackout.
Kwankwaso called the development discouraging in a message that was published on his X page on Monday.
In order to meet energy demands, he counseled governors to give priority to alternate power sources.He added, “It is very disheartening that vandalism on the crucial 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna power line that supplies the states of Kano and Kaduna, as well as another line that supplies Bauchi, Gombe, and other parts of the northeast, has left many parts of Northern Nigeria in complete darkness today.”
The length of time it has taken to resolve this catastrophe highlights how severely our electrical industry lacks the capacity to handle complex issues.
In order to prevent any further disruptions, this needs to be rectified.Kwankwaso went on to say, “We must take advantage of the wealth of resources this nation has to offer and investigate alternate power sources to meet our energy needs.
“In order to lessen our dependency on our outdated and insufficient energy sources, I would like to encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources, just as we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams.
“Additionally, President Bola Tinubu gave Adebayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, and other pertinent agencies instructions on Monday to expedite efforts to bring electricity back to all of the Northern states that were impacted.
He issued a warning, saying that intentional destruction and sabotage of public facilities would no longer be tolerated by the administration.
The decision was given by Tinubu at a Monday meeting with Adelabu, who also informed him of the Transmission Company of Nigeria’s efforts to fix the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines at the Aso Rock Villa.In Nigeria, the high price of gasoline and diesel has made things worse by driving factories to shut down and further enveloping homes in darkness.
