The persistent power outage in the northern part of the country is taking its toll as it has completely crippled socio-economic activities in Kano as residents have continued to grapple with various challenges of life ranging from inadequate water supply and escalating cost of foodstuffs and other services.
The power outage which started about two weeks ago, has compelled many residents of the city to resort to using sachet water for their daily use as the water supply from the state water board has not been regular following the lingering power outage.
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The high cost of sachet water or table water might not be unconnected with the power outage because many producers of
the commodity has also closed down the factories due to the power outage.
The persistent power outage coupled with the high cost of diesel and fuel has continued to make life difficult for many residents, especially the less privileged who are the majority .
As a result of the situation, water vendors have also jerked up their prices by about 200 percent as a 25 litre Jerry can which used to be sold at N50, now goes for between N150 and N200 due to the power outage.
One of the water vendors, Musa Mairuwa told our reporter that before now he used to pay N100 to fill his 20 Jerry cans from the commercial borehole owners but now he has to pay N500 to fill the same number of jerry cans.
“Before the power outage, I pay a little to fill my 10 Jerry cans from owners of the boreholes but now because of the power outage they have to buy diesel and fuel to power their generators which is costly,” Mairuwa said.
Similarly, prices of sachet water popularly known as table water has also gone up depending on the quality of the product.
For instance the price of Iceberg which is one of the best table water in Kano has gone up from N300 for (a bag of 20 pieces) to N600 while prices of the ordinary ones have also gone up to N300 as against N150.
As a result of the lingering power outage, many small scale industries have collapsed while the ones that are managing to operate, are doing so at very high cost due to the prolonged power outage and high cost of petroleum products.
Most of the small scale business owners have been sent out of business by the lingering power outage. Those affected included tailors, barbers, grinding machines operators, operators of business centers and welders among others.
The situation has also affected schools, especially higher institutions and hospitals where power supply is essential. Many patients in hospitals were reported to have lost their lives due to the lingering power outage.
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“Most of these small scale business owners had stopped using generators due to the high cost of diesel. So, with the current power situation, we have no alternative than to continue to wait until when the power is restored,” a welder told our reporter on Wednesday.
Also commenting on the issue, the Kano State chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Abdulrashid Magaji said the power outage has seriously affected the processing industries especially rice milling plants.
He lamented that most of such processing plants have been shut down because they could not operate on diesel due to its escalating cost.
He attributed the rising cost of rice and other essential commodities to the current power outage in the country stressing that most of the processing industries are either operating at skeletal level or have completed shutdown.
“Many of the processing companies operate only when there is power supply. How do you expect them now to operate when there is total blackout,” he said.
According to him, the current situation needs urgent and serious intervention from both the state and Federal Governments to save the economy from total collapse.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had on Monday directed the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and relevant agencies to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the North.
Tinubu gave the directive at a meeting with Adelabu, who briefed him on efforts made by the Transmission Company of Nigeria to repair the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines at the Aso Rock Villa.
Tinubu also warned that the Federal Government will no longer condone deliberate sabotage and destruction of public utilities.
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Meanwhile, the Federal Government promised on Tuesday to speed up efforts to restore power to Northern Nigeria after widespread blackouts.
The Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu promised the National Assembly that full power would return to the region within 14 days, meaning the 17 affected states will remain without electricity until Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
