EVERYDAY STRUGGLE

Some years back I came to understand that what feels normal for me isn't normal for others. And what feels normal in a country like Nigeria isn't normal for those in Europe and America. One of these things is power outage (loss of electricity). To be honest I find it very shameful that we still suffer such a thing in Nigeria not because the nation does not have the resources to produce an uninterrupted power supply, but because what those in power make from sales of generators and solar panels will not allow them to give us an uninterrupted power supply. As stupid as this reason might sound, it is very true.

This is why the government will refuse to fund projects or give loans to small power generating companies who hope to give uninterrupted power supply to a particular area. They might not shut them down outrightly, but they slam them with so many bills that make them increase the prices for their services and discourage the masses from patronizing them. This is how those who are in control of the economy make things happen. I have not had electricity in my area for over a week, thank goodness my company has electricity where I spend the majority of my day and use the opportunity to charge up my devices.

Imagine I wasn't working, where would I see an opportunity to charge my devices. My MD was lamenting that the company spends over 2 million naira every month on petrol for the generator and thus are considering investing in a solar panel system which has been estimated to be worth over 14 million naira for installation and purchase excluding maintenance. Imagine paying this much for stable electricity, imagine how businesses that can't afford this survive. This is the reality of things here, there are those who have not seen electricity for over a year because no one important lives around there. For these people, even an epileptic power supply would be a blessing.

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