Industrialist Wants FG To Prioritise Power

In Aba-based industrialist, Chief Anibe Ojukwu, has urged the Federal Government to prioritise power as a step towards revitalising the economy and providing jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.

Chief Ojukwu made the call in Port Harcourt during the burial of the late wife of Eze Opara Rebisi, Sunday Woluchan the paramount ruler of Port Harcourt, recently.

According to him, power supply had remained virtually epileptic all the year in spite of the on-going work on the different power projects in the country, saying that the recourse to generators usage with its attendant high maintenance and diesel costs resulted in very high overhead cost for the business.

He explained that the power problem was killing major industries and businesses in the country, downsizing the economy and rendering majority of the population jobless, stressing that the problem of power supply has reached a devastating peak and needed an urgent intervention by the federal government.

He highlighted the harsh operating business environment in 2010 and its negative impact on businesses, noting that there was no significant improvement in the level of infrastructure in the country. “The company’s expenditure on diesel alone in 2010 was N210 million, part of this could have gone into improving the bottom-line,” he said.

“The tough business environment of 2010 did not spare manufacturing industries, the sector witnessed reduction in expansion when compare to 2009 that was adjudged generally a difficult year. The low purchasing power that characterised the economy in 2010 led to restructuring and closure of some factories, while some relocated to other African countries where the business environment is conducive and favourable”, he noted.