Activist lawyer, Madubuachi Idam has called on President Bola Tinubu to prioritize resolving Nigeria’s electricity crisis, stressing that a focus on the power grid collapse would open up opportunities for Nigerian youths, especially in the digital space. Idam’s remarks come in response to Tinubu’s New Year message, which he believes failed to deliver on the president’s promises and lacked any tangible plans for addressing the nation’s pressing issues.
In a statement, Idam highlighted the prolonged instability of the national power grid, which significantly impacted Nigerians, especially in the latter part of 2024. He emphasized that a stable power supply would enable youth to fully engage with the opportunities social media provides, which are currently hindered by frequent power outages.
“I commend President Tinubu for outperforming his predecessor in not speaking off the point during national addresses,” Idam said, acknowledging the clarity of Tinubu’s speeches. However, he quickly pointed out the dissonance between the president’s rhetoric and his actions. “Despite failing to match talks with actions, President Tinubu has continued in his renewed hope assurances with little or no corresponding effort to match his talk with practical actions. It has all been prophetic declarations and nothing more,” he added.
Idam specifically criticized the administration’s failure to address the rising fuel prices, noting that when Tinubu took office in 2023, the price of fuel was below N200 per liter, but it has since skyrocketed to over N1000. “If not, a man who rode on a renewed hope mantra to gain power when fuel price was less than N200 cannot sit and watch it rise to N1000, except he is now renewing hopelessness,” he said, calling the fuel price hike a “betrayal of hope.”
The activist also expressed disappointment over the government’s claims of progress in the oil sector. Despite the reactivation of two government-owned refineries, fuel prices have remained high and scarcity persists in filling stations. “Another betrayal of hope would be jubilating that two government-owned refineries in Nigeria have now begun oil production and thereafter see fuel price still refusing to crash or that the petroleum product still remains scarce or invisible in filling stations,” Idam noted.
He also criticized President Tinubu’s New Year message, describing it as a series of “prophetic declarations” that lacked concrete steps to resolve the nation’s challenges. “More concerning is the fact that Mr. President’s new year message sounded more like prophetic declarations which can only be achieved with faith and prayers as no practical steps were revealed in his speech,” Idam said, calling for more action and less rhetoric.
Turning his attention to the pressing issue of electricity, Idam urged Tinubu to focus on resolving the power crisis as a matter of priority. “I wish President Tinubu would simply focus and resolve the electricity crisis in Nigeria,” he said, stressing that solving this issue would significantly improve the lives of Nigerians, particularly the youth.
Idam argued that many Nigerian youths are turning to social media and smartphones in the absence of reliable government support. “If nothing else, Nigerian youths will look away from the government and focus on the barrage of opportunities that social media has presented. Most Nigerian youths will engage their smartphones instead of seeking to be engaged by the government,” he stated, noting that this shift has become more pronounced due to the government’s failure to create meaningful employment opportunities.
The activist concluded by calling on the federal government to ensure that no unemployed Nigerian youth would have to face the challenges of a collapsed national grid in 2025, especially as the price of fuel remains prohibitively high. “The federal government must ensure that no Nigerian unemployed youth must be made to face National Grid collapse in 2025 since fuel price has refused to return to where President Buhari left it,” Idam declared.
