The recent statement from the minister of power, works and housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola concerning the increase in electricity tariff has sparked an outrageous response from the Nigerian public and the labour union across the country, Nigeria. We have examined this statement and the activities of both the minister and his ministry, we found out that he is not right at this moment to increase electricity tariff for so many reasons. First, we discovered that under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, so many things went wrong, privatization of the power sector was not done in a proper manner that would benefit the citizens of Nigeria. The idea to have the power sector of the economy privatized was good but proper study was not done before it was introduced and now this same mistake is what the minister of power, works and housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola is trying to repeat but in another fashion. Normally before such increase should take place, proper study must have been conducted, the minister should first ask how many people in various cities and villages in Nigeria have steady light, he has to make sure that the country (Nigeria) has constant power supply even if it is not one hundred percent but at least seventy percent power supply should be in place in every home and offices across the country. Also the “pay as you use” meter which was introduced during Goodluck Jonathan’s administration should be installed at every home in the country, such system is good for Nigeria. If this is done and the citizens of the country are getting steady power supply then if you increase the tariff, it would be understandable but that has not been done and now you want to increase the electricity tariff.
It would be a huge burden to the Nigeria citizens taken into consideration the economic situation of the country. Again, in Nigeria there are lots of people without good means of livelihood even the ones who are working can barely feed well, all these are factors that should be considered before any increase should take place. We (Viewers Corner News team) are suggesting that the minister and his ministry should work first to give Nigerians steady supply of power before any increase should be made because any increase introduced now would create more hardship for the citizens of Nigeria which is not right.
Again, other ministers and their ministries should stop this blame game about the former Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the time to work is now because majority of Nigerians understand that former President Goodluck Jonathan ruined the economy of the country that was why the Nigerian public voted for President Buhari so that himself and his cabinet members can bring the economy in good shape therefore the Buhari’s administration should not fail the Nigerian people. However, proper study should be carried out on any venture, no matter how small it may be before executing them and never make statements concerning the economy without proper evaluation of your proposed projects, this is how government works in almost all the successful countries around the world. Viewers Corner would continue to give advice when it is necessary because we want to make sure that the Buhari’s government does not disappoint the Nigerian public and if our advice is taken, there is no way President Buhari’s administration would fail. Another problem in Nigeria is that, the few good people who would have liked to work and better the lives of all the citizens of Nigeria are not given the opportunity to do so because of favouritism and the cabal syndrome and until this attitude is changed before Nigeria can be alright.
Source: Viewers Corner News.