Nigeria may continue to live in darkness if government controls electricity – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that Nigeria may continue to live in darkness if government refuses to leave the electricity business in private hands.

Obasanjo gave the warning on Tuesday at the Youth Governance Dialogue, with the theme "African Youth and Renaissance", held at the Youth Development Centre inside the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He said the country has wasted too many years waiting for government to fix power, and the result is still the same: poor supply, frequent collapse and millions of Nigerians depending on generators.

According to the former President, the only way Nigeria can get stable electricity is to copy what worked for telecoms.

He recalled how government struggled with telephone services for years until the sector was opened up. Once private companies came in, the story changed completely.

"Government has tried, just like government tried with telecommunications, until we put it in the hands of the private sector, we didn't solve it," Obasanjo said.

"And I believe that until we put energy in the hands of the private sector, we won't solve it," he added.

Obasanjo said power is the backbone of any serious economy. Without it, businesses cannot grow, industries cannot produce and jobs cannot be created.

He said he is not happy that after all these years of promises and reforms, Nigeria is still struggling to keep the lights on.

According to him, government has no business holding on to the power sector. The more government stays in control, the longer Nigerians will wait for improvement.

He therefore asked the authorities to give private operators a bigger role and allow them to drive the sector the way they did with telecoms.

Obasanjo also told the youths at the event to stop waiting for government. He said young Nigerians with fresh ideas in business and technology can help find solutions to the power problem if they put their ideas to work.