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Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has expressed grave concern over the recent collapse of Nigeria’s national power grid, calling it a “national shame” and a clear indication of leadership and policy failures at the highest levels.
The national grid collapsed on Monday evening at around 6:18 pm, plunging large parts of the country into darkness. Reports indicate that power generation dropped sharply from 3.87 gigawatts at 5 pm to 0.00GW by 7 pm, leaving millions without electricity. The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the incident in a statement.
In a follow-up post on Tuesday via X, formerly Twitter, Obi described the frequent grid failures as emblematic of Nigeria’s weak power infrastructure. He stressed that these constant collapses hamper the country’s economic growth and expose the chronic governance issues facing the nation.
“This recurring disaster is a national shame and a glaring testament to the failure of leadership and policy implementation at the highest levels,” Obi remarked. He highlighted the negative impact unreliable power has on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which play a key role in job creation and GDP growth.
Obi emphasized the urgent need for reform in the energy sector, noting that the lack of a stable power supply stifles the productivity of Nigerian businesses and the broader economy. He also compared Nigeria’s power struggles with other African nations like South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria, lamenting that Nigeria, despite having a larger population, generates far less electricity.
“We have fallen from being Africa’s largest economy to the fourth due to leadership failures, including the persistent power crisis,” Obi noted. He urged the government to enact meaningful reforms and prioritize projects that drive measurable development in the energy sector.
“Nigerians deserve a government that prioritizes measurable indices of development,” he concluded.
