By Christiana Ekpa
The presidency has declared the recent collapse of the national grid, that affected electricity supply in many states, an act of sabotage.
Ahmad Zakari, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Infrastructure, lamented the situation and urged Nigerians to be vigilant.
In a thread on Twitter, the aide said the cause of Friday’s electricity shutdown “was sabotage of Ikot-Ekpene Calabar 330KV tower”.
Zakari noted that destruction of the country’s infrastructure “by citizens is difficult to comprehend”.
Listing incidents, he mentioned the targeting of AKK gas pipeline where the kidnap of personnel some weeks ago delayed the project.
“Zungeru 750MW Hydro Power: Kidnapping of personnel delayed project completion at 95%.
“Multiple instances of damage to Damaturu-Maiduguri 330KV lines pushed Maiduguri into darkness,” he said.
“Abuja-Kaduna Rail damage and subsequent attack, kidnapping and killings; Okpai gas pipeline damage taking 350MW off the grid.”
Zakari stressed the importance of improving security because infrastructure is vast, spans thousands of kilometers and has multiple risk points.
According to the adviser, citizens’ sabotage of infrastructure questions if some people really want Nigeria to progress.
Noting that hardship inflicted on fellow compatriots is unconscionable, Zakari said the government will continue to innovate infrastructure security protocol.
“Securing our infrastructure must be everyone’s work. If you see someone damaging infrastructure please take actions to report to authorities or intervene if possible”, he appealed.
Zakari confirmed the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has been repositioned as a decentralized renewable energy agency “spending billions of Naira electrifying communities”.
The aide said Interconnected Mini-Grids have been added to REAs mandate, meaning renewable power plants to augment the grid in urban areas.
“We anticipate we will have more than 500MW of interconnected Mini-Grids over the next few years projects from Obudu, BUK, ATBU, FUNAI, Kasuwan Magani”, he added.
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