N10bn Photo voltaic for Presidential Villa and Nothing for the Individuals, by Tahir Ahmad

As thousands and thousands of Nigerians proceed to endure the agony of darkness, paying extra for the little they barely get, the Federal Authorities has already proposed a ₦10 billion photo voltaic power improve for the Presidential Villa. The justification?

A supposedly insufferable ₦47 billion annual electrical energy invoice at Aso Rock. The message? Whereas the nation struggles, the seat of energy should glow uninterrupted.

What’s unfolding is a story of two electrical realities: one clear, uninterrupted and solely reserved for the ruling elite; the opposite, flickering weakly — a every day torment for residents who energy the nation however stay in blackout.

Simply as the federal government unveils its shiny photo voltaic ambition for Aso Rock, it’s neck-deep in negotiations over a ₦4 trillion debt owed to energy era firms.

But one way or the other, even below that burden, it manages to summon billions — to not rescue the nationwide grid — however to defend itself from the very chaos it leaves behind for bizarre Nigerians.

The irony deepens. Minister of Energy, Adebayo Adelabu, has declared that electrical energy subsidies should go. Band A customers already know what which means, having seen their tariffs hiked sharply.

Bands B and C are subsequent in line. Nigerians are being advised the federal government can now not afford to maintain electrical energy low-cost. However that argument begins to sound hole when the identical authorities finds billions to safe its personal consolation.

The presidency will get photo voltaic panels; the folks get worth hikes. To be clear, renewable power is a path Nigeria should stroll — and quick. However on this case, the optics are damning.

The challenge reeks not of imaginative and prescient however of insulation — a political class slicing itself off from the failures it was elected to repair. It’s photo voltaic for the rulers, and wrestle for the dominated.

A real power transition would look completely different. It might start on the grassroots: with rural hospitals, public colleges, group markets, and native companies powered sustainably.

It might be about lifting folks from power poverty, not lifting a privileged few out of inconvenience. As a substitute, what we see is the widening of a merciless hole — one grid for the governors, one other for the ruled.

And so, whereas the nation contemplates full subsidy elimination, residents should ask greater than why. They have to demand how. How will the federal government defend weak Nigerians from additional struggling?

How can it afford photo voltaic sanctuaries in Aso Rock whereas it pleads poverty earlier than GenCos? How can a authorities that can’t gentle up Ilorin Normal Hospital declare it’s going inexperienced?

Nigeria’s electrical energy disaster is not only a matter of provide and demand — it’s a query of justice, fairness, and the soul of governance. Aso Rock’s photo voltaic ambition, in its present type, is just not a mannequin of progress.

It’s a monument to separation — between the Nigeria that suffers and the Nigeria that decides. Earlier than illuminating the villa, let the federal government illuminate its conscience.

Let it pay what it owes, make investments the place it issues, and cease hiding its failures behind costly panels. Something much less is just not reform. It’s a polished insult, powered by taxpayers, beamed brightly from the highest — whereas the remainder of the nation sits at nighttime.

*Tahir Ahmad is a corps member serving at PRNigeria Centre, Abuja. He will be reached by way of: [email protected].*