When leadership fails and the people die, By Mohammed Dahiru Aminu

We must stop allowing these so-called leaders to rule over us without question. A governor who cannot provide power, who cannot secure his state, who cannot ensure basic human dignity, does not deserve to be in office. If a governor’s legacy is darkness, poverty and death, he must be removed and replaced with someone who understands that leadership is a duty, not a luxury. No more excuses. No more patience. Nigerians have suffered enough.

Sometime in March and April last year, my hometown, the city of Yola, turned into a furnace. Temperatures soared to an inhumane 47 degrees celsius; a level of heat so intense that it could cook a meal if left under the sun long enough. And what happened? People died. Not because this was an unavoidable natural disaster, not because this was an unpredictable act of God, but because the government at the state and national levels are a complete and utter failure. Year after year, heatwaves claim lives, yet there is no preparation, no adaptation, no urgency. The suffering is predictable, the deaths avoidable and the failure of leadership undeniable. The Nigerian people are dying slow, preventable deaths because of the criminal negligence of state governors who do not care, who do not act, and who have not lifted a finger to solve even the most basic human needs. They sit in their air-conditioned mansions, drive their convoys through pothole-ridden roads, and run their homes and offices on 24/7 diesel-powered generators, while the people they swore to govern suffer under a system they refuse to fix. The sheer wickedness of it all is breathtaking. The indifference is staggering.

Join the Premium Times WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.

Open in WhatsApp

Electricity in Nigeria is a disgrace. There is no other way to put it. A nation blessed with oil, gas, sunshine and waterfalls cannot provide power for its people. Instead, our leaders have normalised blackouts, while private diesel and petrol businesses profit from our suffering. In developed countries, electricity is taken for granted, but in Nigeria, it is a luxury. And even then, it is unreliable. The wealthy elites and corrupt politicians do not feel the impact because they can afford alternative energy sources, while the average Nigerian is left in perpetual darkness, forced to endure extreme temperatures, sleepless nights, and unproductive days. For as long as I can remember, power in Nigeria has been unstable, unreliable and unavailable. The only exception I ever experienced was in the 1990s in New Bussa, a town powered by the mighty Kainji Dam. And yet, even that place (a town at the foot of a hydroelectric dam) has now collapsed into the same abyss of power shortages as the rest of the country. If a town sitting on one of Nigeria’s largest sources of hydroelectric power cannot enjoy stable electricity, what hope is there for the rest of the country? The incompetence is staggering.

Every corner of Nigeria is drowning in incompetence. Across the country, governors parade themselves as leaders, but in reality, they are rulers who sit on thrones, deaf to the cries of their people. The responsibilities of government are clear, simple and non-negotiable. Provide electricity. Failed. Build and maintain roads. Failed. Provide clean water. Failed. Ensure security. Failed. Strengthen healthcare. Failed. Support education. Failed.

How is it that a country this rich in energy resources has a power grid this broken? But let us not pretend this is an accident. No, this is the direct consequence of decades of corruption, mismanagement and outright thievery. Billions of dollars have been sunk into power sector “reforms,” and yet the situation worsens. Where did the money go? Who is answering for it? No one. And why? Because Nigeria’s leadership thrives on dysfunction. It is a deliberate, orchestrated system of failure that benefits the few in power, while keeping the masses in poverty and dependence. Last year, in parts of northeastern Nigeria, power lines were vandalised, plunging entire communities into darkness, suffering and death. The heat was unbearable, and the people were left to fend for themselves. No emergency response, no quick fix, no contingency plan. Just silence and suffering. The government will always find an excuse, in terrorism, in technical failures, in unforeseen circumstances, but never a solution. And now, as another brutal heat season is here, what do we expect? More of the same. More outages. More heatwaves. More people struggling to survive in conditions that no human should be subjected to. How many more must die before these so-called leaders act?

But they are not going to act because they do not care. If the governor of a state cannot ensure something as fundamental as electricity for his people, what exactly is he doing? If a leader cannot prevent the annual cycle of suffering that kills his people, why is he in office? What is the purpose of a governor who cannot guarantee the survival of the very people who elected him? There are governors who spend more time traveling abroad than addressing the crises within their states. They engage in grandiose projects that serve no real purpose, while ignoring the desperate needs of their people. They build monuments to themselves, name roads after themselves, and throw lavish parties, while their citizens choke in the heat, die from preventable diseases and sink further into poverty. This is not just about one state. Every corner of Nigeria is drowning in incompetence. Across the country, governors parade themselves as leaders, but in reality, they are rulers who sit on thrones, deaf to the cries of their people. The responsibilities of government are clear, simple and non-negotiable. Provide electricity. Failed. Build and maintain roads. Failed. Provide clean water. Failed. Ensure security. Failed. Strengthen healthcare. Failed. Support education. Failed. They fail at everything, yet they never fail to collect their exorbitant salaries, travel allowances, luxury convoys and international trips.

As we enter another season of scorching heat and deadly blackouts, we already know how this story ends. People will die of heatstroke. Hospitals will lose power and patients will die. Businesses will collapse because of unreliable electricity. Farmers will lose their crops because they cannot store or process them. Schoolchildren will struggle to study under candlelight. Families will be forced to spend what little money they have on fuel for generators while their leaders squander public funds on unnecessary luxuries.

Where does all the money go? Where are the budgets for infrastructure? Who is holding these people accountable? Every year, billions are allocated for development, yet nothing changes. They steal with impunity. They fail with impunity. And when the people die as a result, there is not a single consequence. The cycle continues. The suffering deepens. The leaders remain indifferent. As we enter another season of scorching heat and deadly blackouts, we already know how this story ends. People will die of heatstroke. Hospitals will lose power and patients will die. Businesses will collapse because of unreliable electricity. Farmers will lose their crops because they cannot store or process them. Schoolchildren will struggle to study under candlelight. Families will be forced to spend what little money they have on fuel for generators while their leaders squander public funds on unnecessary luxuries.

And these governors? They will do nothing. They will blame the federal government, blame the opposition, blame the economy, blame “unforeseen circumstances.” They will never take responsibility. They will never be held accountable. They are responsible for the needless suffering and preventable deaths of the people they were elected to serve. And it is time they answered for their failures. Nigerians must stop tolerating incompetence as normal. We must stop making excuses for these failures. We must stop allowing these so-called leaders to rule over us without question. A governor who cannot provide power, who cannot secure his state, who cannot ensure basic human dignity, does not deserve to be in office. If a governor’s legacy is darkness, poverty and death, he must be removed and replaced with someone who understands that leadership is a duty, not a luxury. No more excuses. No more patience. Nigerians have suffered enough. It is time to force accountability upon those who have refused to deliver it.