Residents, businesses, and hospitals across Northern Nigeria are grappling with the dire effects of a prolonged electricity outage that has now stretched into its eighth day. The blackout, caused by a fault in the transmission lines between Benue and Enugu, and Shiroro and Kaduna, has paralyzed essential services and disrupted daily life.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed that a fault in the 330kV Ugwaji-Apir line tripped the circuits, plunging the Northeast, Northwest, and parts of Northcentral Nigeria into darkness. TCN assured citizens that efforts to restore power are underway, but vandalism and infrastructure challenges have delayed progress.
Hospitals, including Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), are particularly struggling. Medical equipment and diagnostic services, heavily reliant on electricity, have been severely hampered. Patients, like Malam Umaru Direba, complain of sleepless nights due to mosquito infestations exacerbated by the lack of power. AKTH spends nearly N500,000 daily on diesel, with solar inverters providing limited emergency services.
Local businesses have also been hit hard, especially frozen food vendors like Husseini Rufai in Kano and Muhammad El-Kabeer in Gombe. Both have reported significant losses as perishable goods spoil without refrigeration. El-Kabeer explained that running a generator to keep his stock fresh has doubled his costs, causing customers to shy away due to higher prices.
Water vendors, contending with increased generator costs, have doubled their prices, compounding the struggles for residents. Meanwhile, transformer vandalism has worsened the situation in some communities, making power restoration efforts even more difficult.
In Plateau State’s Timber Market, business has ground to a halt. “Without electricity to operate machinery, we’ve lost most of our customers,” said Abubakar Salihu, a timber trader. Other communities in Jos, such as Gangare and Anguwan Rogo, report similar challenges, with hoodlums vandalizing transformers during the blackout.
In Kaduna, the power crisis has crippled small businesses. Residents like Halima Mu’azu shared how her mother’s drinks business has suffered. In Rigasa, where the community transformer was vandalized, residents are pooling funds to repair it, knowing that even if power is restored, their community will remain in darkness without a functioning transformer.
Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) attributed the outage to grid issues and vandalism, promising to restore power soon. In the meantime, hospitals, businesses, and everyday citizens are bracing for more days of hardship as Northern Nigeria waits for relief from the blackout.
