Power Supply In Nigeria

Power supply in Nigeria over time had evolved for the worse. We could boast of a moderate supply of power in the past years compared to this recent time. The change started with privatizing the power holding company of Nigeria (PHCN) and the deliberate refusal to provide electric meters to houses. Among other things Nigerians suffer from is poor power supply, 24 hours of electricity is a luxury we have given up on and have learned to adapt with or without electricity, mostly using other alternatives.

A few attributes of Nigeria power holding company are; Rainfall is a threat to them. Once the cloud is gathered and it's about to rain, without notice, we know the light will go off. Low current stay longer than a full current. The only times we enjoy longer light is when the current is low, unable to supply to any of the electrical gadgets or maybe when it's a few days to supply bills. They have the notion that a few days of stable light would make us forget the several months we stayed in darkness. Whether or not there's light, our bill still reads in their office. It's very funny how we pay for things we don't use. Aside from the printed bill with balance in the prints, they often have a different one written with a pen which is assumed to be the actual bill.

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At one point our transformer was overloaded and got spoiled. The transformer was taken for repairs and it stayed more than 2 years with them. It was until the community contributed some money among themselves and visited their offices that we got a positive response from them after a few days. Let's say, once anything as serious as a transformer go bad, the only way the community get a new one or have it repair is when; the community make individual contributions, a governor or chairman who's campaigning buy one to win people's vote, or a rich man in the community do a follow up, else, the community remain without light for a very long time.

But then, people have found other means to stay powered. Generators and solar panels are on high sale, people no longer rely on power holding companies for electricity, except for people who are elites. They pay extra money to stay in a band that separates the rich from the poor. If you need a good or averagely good power supply, you pay extra to have it. So the amount of electrical power one gets depends on the band, which clearly has to do with one's social-economic status and not as a country.