President Muhammadu Buhari has continued the battle to ensure he leaves a positive legacy for which he will be remembered in the history of Nigeria’s political development after his second tenure elapses in 2023. The President troubled by the incessant insecurity and activities of gunmen in southeast Nigeria, essentially, Imo State; the rapidly declined electricity supply in the country, and the seemingly collapsed economy, summoned Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, the Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, and the Chief Economic Adviser, Prof Doyin Salami, to an urgent meeting at the State House, Abuja on Monday.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement in Abuja on Monday indicated that the President scheduled the meeting with the invitees separately on Monday afternoon.
The SSA said that President Buhari is expected to receive a briefing on the latest developments in Imo State, the power sector, and the state of the economy from the governor, minister, and special adviser at the meetings.
Imo State has become a theater of violence in recent times. Gunmen attacked and burnt two police stations in the state last week and successfully escaped.
Electricity supply has in the past weeks worsened across the country. First, the federal government put up a defence that the long hours of electricity outage across the country was due to low water level at the dam. Later the national grid was said to have broken down. Weeks after the minister of power told Nigerians that the federal government has recovered the national grid, electricity supply has worsened. Homes and offices that were supplied electricity before the recovery for about three hours in 24 hours were reduced to 45 to 15 minutes electricity supply in 24 hours after the said recovery of the national grid.
The economy has been badly down over the years without sign of redemption. Beside the statistics of unemployment, crime wave, incremental poverty, etc., prices of goods and services have gone the reach of many citizens except those in government and political structures. The price regime is so bad that even manufacturers have withdrawn from the production of certain household products in the fear that the price may discourage consumers from further patronage. Hunger and starvation has become writ large in Nigeria.
President Buhari no longer needs any adviser to tell him how bad the country’s socio-economic condition is. Apparently, the president appears to have been concerned about the historical liability awaiting him in the post-2023 era.
The presidency had last week enumerated actions taken to improve electricity supply in the country. Unfortunately, they yielded no positive result.