The Gombe State Operating Officer of the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JED), Comrade Rilwanu Shehu, has urged Nigerians to remain hopeful in the country’s future despite ongoing challenges in the power sector and wider economy.
Shehu, who also serves as the National Deputy President of the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), made this known in an interview with journalists shortly after staff and management of the company joined in commemorating Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary.
“Yeah, like you always see and feel, there is hope in every Nigerian. Because once you start losing hope, the direction will be entirely different and it will not be encouraging,” Shehu said.
While acknowledging progress in infrastructure and electricity supply, Shehu admitted that challenges remain. “We cannot shy away from seeing that there are challenges, but that hope keeps us going. Nigeria of today will witness a lot of peculiar changes as a result of the new generation coming on board to make some level of difference,” he added.
The JED official highlighted the importance of electricity to industrial growth in Gombe, describing power as “the bedrock of every economy.” He explained that improved supply has been boosting small and medium industries across the state, but lamented financial constraints and vandalisation as persistent obstacles.
“Once the revenue is not forthcoming, the purchasing power will be very, very low in the industry. Secondly, we have issues of vandalisation, which is really eating up our strength. You see a community staying for three weeks without supply simply because some hoodlums vandalised a transformer,” he said.
Shehu called on communities to safeguard power installations and urged the Federal Government to review its policies, especially the removal of subsidies, which he said has worsened the burden on customers.
“For you to remove that subsidy means adding whatever you are expecting from the distribution company on the customer. The distribution companies are looking up to better policies that will soften the industry, so that an average Nigerian will benefit,” he noted.
Despite the hurdles, Shehu insisted that the power sector can deliver reliable supply if stakeholders unite. “Now, if you are getting 20 hours of supply in a day, we want you to get 24 hours. And that can only happen if all of us come together. We have hope that things will get better,” he said.
