*As President deploys troops against vandals
Governors of the 19 northern states in the country Monday called for the diversification of energy following persistent blackouts in 17 states of the country for over two week.
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 a whimper of electricity supply in the period.
Others are Sokoto, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Plateau, Nasarawa, Kogi and Benue.
Commercial activities in the North have therefore are in dire straits following the outage brought about by vandalism of the power transmission lines, by suspected bandits.
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.
The Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of Northern Traditional Rulers Council, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll and other prominent monarchs from the region, including the 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 attended the meeting.
Among the governors who attended the meeting are Bauchi Governor, Bala Mohammed, Borno’s Prof. Babagana Zulum, Nasarawa’s Abdullahi Sule, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, Gombe’s Mohammed Yahaya, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna, Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, Yobe governor Maimala Bumi and Kwara’s AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq. Others were represented by their respective deputy governors.
The governors and monarchs called on the Federal Government to address the current electricity power blackout in northern states as well as invest in additional transmission lines and diversified energy supply to ensure improved electricity supply.
A communiqué signed by Governor Yahaya on behalf of the group read, “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 vandalisation of electricity transmission infrastructure.
“This matter not only underscores the vulnerability of critical infrastructure but also the need to build additional transmission lines and diversify our energy supply so as to better connect our region and improve our energy resilience.”
Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party in the 2023 elections, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, expressed sadness over the massive blackout.
In a message posted on his X page on Monday, Kwankwaso described the development as disheartening.
He advised governors to prioritise alternative power sources to address energy needs.
He wrote, “It is very disheartening that many parts of Northern Nigeria are in total darkness today due to vandalism on the important 330kV Shiroro-Kaduna power line that supplies the states of Kano and Kaduna and another line that supplies Bauchi, Gombe and other parts of the northeast.
“This situation has been further compounded by the high cost of petrol and diesel in Nigeria, which has further plunged homes into darkness and forced factories to close down.
“The time this crisis has taken to be addressed underscores the huge deficit of capacity our power sector has in order to address large scale problems. This must be addressed to avoid any future disruption.”
Kwankwaso added, “It is about time that we look into alternative power sources to address our energy needs and we need to exploit the abundant resources available to this country.
“I wish to encourage all state governments and private investors to invest in alternative electricity sources, just like we did in Kano by installing two turbines in the Challawa Gorge and Tiga Dams in order to reduce the reliance on our inadequate and aged energy sources.”
Also, President Bola Tinubu on Monday directed the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and relevant agencies to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the North.
He warned that the government would no longer condone deliberate sabotage and destruction of public utilities.
Tinubu gave the directive at a meeting with Adelabu, who briefed him on efforts made by the Transmission Company of Nigeria to repair the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines at the Aso Rock Villa, on Monday.
He expressed concern over the blackout in the northern region of Nigeria in the last week.
“The President directed a long-term solution to the problem,” a statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, read on Monday evening.
“He is now leading efforts to end the disruption that has paralysed social and economic activities, summoning the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
“The President has directed the Minister of Power and relevant agencies to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the North.
“President Tinubu is saddened by the reports of vandalism and willful destruction of power infrastructure and other public assets that caused the unfortunate blackout.”
Tinubu charged TCN engineers not to relent in bringing immediate relief to the people who need electricity to sustain their social and economic activities.
The Presidency stated that to ensure that restoration work continued unhindered, Tinubu “directed the National Security Adviser to work with the Army and Air Force to deploy adequate security personnel, including aerial cover, to protect the engineers who are fixing the damaged transmission line.”
Also on Monday, the Federal Government said it had secured the commitment of contractors and financiers to invest between $1bn and $2bn to install 50MW in each of the 19 northern states.
It said, when operational, the solar plants would use the region’s long daily hours of sunlight and reduce the load on the struggling national grid.
“We have interested contractors and financiers that are ready to install 100 megawatt each for each of the 19 northern states,” Adelabu, told journalists after he briefed President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
When our correspondent asked the minister for the total amount financiers had so far committed to the cause, he replied, “It is between $1bn and $2bn.”
Adelabu said he was at the Villa to discuss the “disturbance” in electricity supply to 17 northern states.
A widespread power failure is impacting 17 northern states in Nigeria, leaving millions without electricity as they continually contend with a prolonged blackout.
Authorities blamed vandals who damaged the critical Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, a major conduit supplying electricity to northern Nigeria.
