Niger State governor Mohammed Bago has addressed the acute shortage of water and electricity in Minna, the state capital, which has rendered both social and economic activities ineffective over the last three weeks.

This explanation comes on the heels of planned protests by youths in the state over what they call “unacceptable epileptic power and water supply” in the state.

While the governor blamed the shortage of water on years of neglect of water reservoirs and distribution channels in Minna by successive administrations, he, however, said the lack of electricity supply was largely due to the inability of citizens to pay for the commodity.

Bago, who stated this when he briefed journalists in Minna on Saturday at the Government House, pointed out that though his administration has invested a substantial amount in the provision of water to all parts of the state capital, the shortage has become inevitable because the population has increased over time, while expansion has not kept pace with the increased population.

According to the governor, the water supply within Minna was originally designed for just 150,000 people, but today the population within Minna is over one million people.

He maintained that all four water reservoirs in Minna have not seen a single water supply in the last 12 years due to neglect, adding that, in addition to this, all the water channels have either been damaged due to construction works in the past with no attempt to fix them or have rusted away.

The governor said the entire water system needs a total overhaul, including desilting of the water dams and assured that his administration will embark on an aggressive turnaround of all the water systems to address the situation.

In the meantime, he said he has directed that a motorised borehole be sunk in all the 274 wards in the 25 local government areas of the state under the ward development programme in the state as a way to minimise the suffering of the people while the government finds a permanent solution to the challenge.

He disclosed that water tankers have been deployed to all the nooks and crannies of Minna to supply water to the people to ease their suffering.

On electricity supply, the governor made it categorically clear that Nigerians must seek alternative ways of getting power supply for their consumption, as it is becoming increasingly clear that the government can no longer provide electricity.

Although he said the current situation could be attributed to low levels of water in the hydroelectricity dams in the country, the increase in population in the country has made adequate power supply impossible, adding that “that is why I advised people to seek an alternative source of power supply”.

The governor maintained that electricity has been privatised by the federal government and therefore it is now strictly a business, adding that “anybody who needs electricity must pay for it.

“Electricity is a private venture. It has nothing to do with the Niger State government or the federal government. What there is is that the Niger State government is already talking to the AEDC to see how we can get more allocation.

“But the AEDC are complaining of a lack of payment of electricity bills by consumers and also the bypass of their prepaid meters. So we are going to work together with them to create a task force to make sure that this is handled so that people can benefit from power. When people say they are going to demonstrate, who are you demonstrating?

“AEDC is a business. They give you service you do not pay for. If you are not paying for the service, you do not have the right to talk. So we are also calling on Nigerlites to be responsible and pay their bills. It is very, very important. And it will encourage AEDC to give us more light. AEDC is a company. It is a business. They give you service you do not pay for. If you are not paying for the service, you do not have the right to talk.

“So we are also calling on Nigerians to be responsible and pay their bills. It is very, very important. And it will encourage AEDC to give us more light. And there are other solutions, and there are other alternatives. So people should understand clearly that power is not government-owned now. It is the concession to private individuals who are running to sustain themselves. That is the truth.

“So the issue of AEDC and everything – when people say they want to go and demonstrate, I will join them. I’m telling you the truth. But if you want light, there are other solutions outside AEDC.”

The governor stated that to resolve power supply challenges to government institutions, the governor has detailed plans to shift public hospitals, primary health centres, schools, and other public institutions off-grid through the recent agreements entered into with ECOWAS and the IAEA, plus deploying 150,000 solar home systems, mini-grids, and solar-powered tricycles to cut transport costs by over 50 per cent.

The governor then called on the people to persevere and be patient with the government, warning that protests would not solve the situation.

“You know what we are doing is transformational. In the last three decades, we have not seen anything like what we are doing right now in the state. The people must be patient with us.” (The Sun)