Obasanjo blames Jonathan, others for power sector decay

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has
blamed his successors for the rot in the power sector.

The former President said that the country needed to generate 2,000 megawatts every year for the citizens to enjoy stable electricity.

Obasanjo, after his second coming as a civilian president, handed over to the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007 while President Goodluck Jonathan assumed office after the death of Yar’Adua in May, 2010.

The former President, spoke at a programme tagged ‘First Green Legacy Moment with Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo on Leadership and Human Security in Africa’, which held in Abeokuta.

He said subsequent administrations after his reign as military ruler between 1976 and 1979 did nothing on power generation until he returned in
1999.

According to him, leaders in the country lack the political will to confront national challenges.

He said, “Part of our problems is lack of political will on the part of the leaders. What does a leader
understands about development? Any leader worth his salt should know that power is very important.
It is the driver of all developments, be it social, economic, and even political.

“When I was military head of state, I developed the Jebba Dam, I developed Shiroro, I started Egbin.
(Ex-President Shehu)Shagari came and completed Egbin and commissioned Jebba and Shiroro.

“Between Shagari in 1983, until I came back in 1999, there was no single dime invested in power generation. If anything, the ones that were there
were allowed to go down.”

Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) came into power on December 31, 1983 after Shagari was
overthrown in a military coup. Buhari himself was shoved out in 1985 by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
who stepped aside in 1993 following the tension that greeted his annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, won by Bashorun Moshood
Abiola.

Ernest Shonekan, head of the Interim National Government, and late dictator Sani Abacha followed while power was transferred to Gen. Abdulsalami Abubaka on the death of Abacha in 1998. It was Abdusalami that handed over again to
Obasanjo as a civilian president in 1999.