Is instability proving impervious to fixes such as power supply? By Adekunle Adekoya

A sense of desperation has taken hold, as the state of our nation continues to deteriorate, leaving a feeling of sadness and anxiety that is suffocating, with the ever-growing blanket of insecurity enveloping our country.

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This feeling of being trapped is exacerbated by the management of our security challenges, which is eerily reminiscent of our longstanding electricity conundrum, a problem that our Minister of Power, who recently resigned, had promised to tackle, with a target of achieving 12,000 mega watts of electricity this year.

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Despite this goal, we remain plagued by darkness, with some areas, like a street in Lagos, having been without electricity for three years, and others, like my own neighborhood, receiving only three hours of electricity every 48 hours, prompting many to opt for expensive solar alternatives.

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The Power Minister's resignation, reportedly to pursue his gubernatorial ambitions in Oyo State, brings little comfort, as his lack of vision and plan for reliable power supply is likely to be replicated in his future endeavors, potentially inflicting more harm on the people of Oyo.

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The insecurity situation is equally dire, with the annual Vanguard Economic Discourse, held on Wednesday, highlighting the fears of farmers who are being attacked by roaming bands of herdsmen, insurgents, and other killer groups, leaving at least 450 people dead in terrorist attacks from January 1 to April 6, 2026.

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A brief chronology of these attacks includes the January 6, 2026, New Year Massacres, which claimed over 50 lives, the February 3-4, 2026, Kwara State Massacre, which killed at least 162 people, and the February 15, 2026, Niger State Village Attacks, which resulted in 46 deaths.

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Further attacks occurred on March 16, 2026, in Maiduguri, where 27 people were killed, and on March 29, 2026, in Plateau State, where over 28 people lost their lives, with the violence showing no signs of abating, as evidenced by the April 10, 2026, Military Base Attack, and the April 13, 2026, Air Force Misfire, which killed at least 100 people.

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President Tinubu's promise, made on April 2, 2026, that the Angwan Rukuba attacks would not happen again, was quickly proven hollow, as terrorists continued to strike, including the abduction of a Kwara traditional ruler and the kidnapping of students on their way to write the UTME, leaving one to wonder at the state's inability to address this issue.

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The situation grows more desperate by the day, with no end in sight to the bloodbath being perpetrated by Boko Haram, ISWAP, and armed bandits, targeting farmers and rural communities, and prompting feelings of despondency and desperation.