By BENJAMIN NJOKU
As the nation continuesto grapple with perennial power supply, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Good Governance Initiative (GGI), has called on Nigerians to support the Federal Government in its bid to ensure steady power supply by 2015.

The group also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to make steady and sustainable power his one-point agenda, saying that if steady power is the only thing he is able to achieve in his four years tenure, he would have achieved more than any other past administration in the country.

The president of the group, Mr. Festus Mbisiogu made the call while speaking with newsmen in in Lagos recently. He decried that without steady power, Nigeria cannot make any meaningful development.

According to him, “millions of jobs have been lost despite the trillions of Naira spent by past administrations.”

He cited example of the textile sector which employed over 250,000 Nigerians but at the moment cannot boast of 20,000 employees.

“Everyday, industries and other manufacturing concerns are collapsing in Nigeria, unemployment rate is rising as investors are not willing to come to Nigeria to do any business because of lack of sustainable power. Sadly, an average Nigerian home spends more than the N18,000 minimum wage a month to power its generator so as to have power,”

“Much of the economic underdevelopment that confronts this country today on lack of stead power. This is a trend all patriotic Nigerians must not allow to continue. Already, we have started work on the advocacy level. We have also had consultation with the Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji.”

“You will agree with me that every Nigerian should be able to enjoy steady and stable power supply. Unfortunately, because of the lack of political will on the part of government and the leaders, Nigerians have been denied these benefits, while across our West African neigbours, steady power is taken for granted.” he noted.

The GGI president also noted that Nigeria is world’s highest importer of generators which has led to huge capital flight as banks spent over N56 billion annually on diesel to run generators.