By Francesca Hangeior

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called for a State of Emergency on power outage, lamenting that over the past week and still counting, most parts of the northern states of Nigeria have been battling with sustained electric power supply outages, leading to near total paralysis in economic and social activities in the region.

The forum stated that the situation has led to growing generalised frustration of the populace.

National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, explained that “the situation appears even more dire and frightening as statements from officials charged with the responsibility for power supply, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) suggest that the problem is likely to persist interminable due to technical and security challenges.
Not unexpectedly, the problem has been a subject of intense debate and lamentations in the media, neighbourhood gatherings, business premises, etc.”

” The smallest of small businesses (such as telephone recharge points, barbing salons, food processors, drinks sellers, etc.), from which millions eke out a daily living are unable to operate. It has also been the same with medium-scale enterprises (such as rice mills, bread and confectionary bakers), that do not have alternative sources of power or cannot afford associated high fuel costs. “

“Home and office operate without cooling and heating and at night are thrown into the medieval dark ages of the primitive, pre-civilisation era. ACF notes that there has emerged, and growing, palpably evidence that it is to the utter consternation and disappointment of people that the problem appears to attract only deafening silence, suggesting indifference, from those who are constitutionally expected to respond with care and concern.”

“At extremes, not a few insinuate a deliberate strategy, among other tendencies, by the Federal Government to continue to socioeconomically shortchange and cripple the North. Such conspiracy hypotheses or theories abound in part because there has been no reaction from the Federal Government, the Minister for Power, elected officials including state governors, nor even feeble motions from state assemblies, such as to give the impression that the country’s leaders as little as care about the basic security and welfare of the people on whose behalf government presides over the nation. “

“An exception to the muteness has been the brave voices of some members of the National Assembly, brave because muteness has since become entrenched in the behaviour of elected personalities. The problem, rather serendipitously, also exposes the gross inequities in power supply generation and distribution nationwide. While the North generates substantial electricity power, it is ironically allocated the least in supply. It just does not make any sense that Lagos alone has eight (8) sub-stations, while the whole of the northern states combined, harbouring more than half of Nigeria’s total population has only THREE (3) sub-stations at Jos, Kaduna and Kano.”

” The question needs to be posed is if ours an Animal Farm analogy – those who substantially are allocated the least. The situation at hand is a portent national security threat, against which the silence, especially, of public officials amounts to a phenomenal textbook illustration of the abdication of responsibility, as unacceptable as can be.”

” To suggest that the problem has its roots in what had been done or not in the past is merely to make excuses. To lamely offer unintelligent excuses – excuses, not reason – that the problem cannot be immediately addressed due to banditry along power supply lines is to surrender to the terroristic criminals. It is inconceivable that Nigeria’s fairly vast array of security agencies, with their humongous budgetary allocations, cannot dislodge and subdue the rag-tag bandits, reclaim and dominate territory. “

“On this score, it is disappointing that the National Assembly is yet to publicly demand accountability over this unacceptable scenario. It also amounts to unadulterated and untenable obfuscation, that the TCN (and the FGN) cannot marshal the necessary human, technical and other material to address the situation at hand with despatch.
In the event and without equivocation therefore, ACF calls on the FGN and all those concerned to rise to the occasion by declaring a state of emergency on the problem before it snowballs into a crisis. This threat to national security should forthwith be treated with the seriousness it deserves.”

“The problem be addressed with the honest URGENCY it deserves; calls for an immediate review of power supply allocation in the country since all consumers pay for it. It is unacceptable that while the North acts as a candle that supplies light, it is being melted down and plunged into darkness. This ought to and must change with immediate effect in the interest of national stability, fairness and equity, and Calls on elected northern state governors and, members of the National Assembly representing constituencies in the northern states to speak out more vehemently and stridently demanding action on the problem as outlined above.”