By Moses Nosike

Elder statesman, businessman, philanthropist and politician, Chief Ewie Aimienwauu has said that decentralisation of power supply in Nigeria will solve the problem of power in Nigeria. In a media chat in Lagos, Chief Aimienwauu explained why he went into business agreement of providing solar light to some states in Nigeria and the challenges he faced.

He said, “I think that the issue of power in Nigeria goes beyond the states. It is an endemic national problem that is rooted in a number of issues. For instance, for a country that gets its supply of power from the national grid, if there is a break at any point on the national grid, then all the other places below will have problem.

“Again, the state governors are not empowered to generate power, so we can’t hold the states accountable for lack of electricity in their states. It’s a thing that’s beyond state governors. The Federal Government has however listened to us and has agreed that the generation of electricity should be decentralised and once that takes effect, then we will begin to have power”.

“The solution to our power problem in Nigeria is decentralisation. Anybody that can generate power should be allowed to generate power and distribute within set guidelines”.

According to him, “Transmission lines being owned and controlled by one central body means that, that body has to provide so much money. We have almost 60% energy poverty in this country and we have almost 45% of people that will not get near the national grid in the next 5 to 10 years. How do they get power? The only way they can get power is by decentralised generation – Solar, Wind, Small hydro and medium size hydro etc. It’s a national problem and this government is beginning to solve it”.

On his position on the forthcoming governorship election in Edo, he said, “For the 2024 election, I’m not contesting for any office. But for that election and with the experience that I have acquired, what I’m doing is more of advocacy this time; Advocating good governance, advocating right candidacy, advocating free and fair elections. Above all, advocating an improved standard of living for Edo people. I believe that there is enough for everybody to live and enjoy. And so, for this elections I will be putting my mouth where my money is. I will be helping the people to decide where it will go by advocacy, not seduction, not by force not by inducement”.

Assessing the the performance of past governors in Edo since 1999, Chief Ewie said, “As one who had run for the office of governor, who didn’t win the elections, I would rather say that all past governments in Edo had continued to endeavour to improve on the performance of their predecessors. Unfortunately, we are not where we want to be, but I can tell you that we were not where we were before. The malice in governance of Edo State and in fact in the whole of the country called Nigeria, can not be blamed on the governors alone.

“What of the local government chairmen. It’s not only the governors that are responsible for making life easier for people. Local government chairmen have their role to play as well as governors and the federal government. That is why we have the exclusive, the concurrent and the residual list in the constitution. If each of these perform its function, the society will be better, people will have more dividends of democracy. I’m not exonerating the governors because they are my colleagues or friends. I’m saying that the Nigerian electorate should be more critical of every executive office holder, not just the governors”.