For over three weeks, residents of Offa Road, in Sokoto state have been grappling with erratic power supply, which has affected both household comfort and business operations.
For small business owners who rely heavily on electricity for daily income, the situation is becoming unbearable.
ASHENEWS gathered that the crisis worsened during the recent fasting period, when electricity was supplied only at night.
Residents endured sweltering daytime heat without relief, despite government promises of improved electricity during the holy month.
Back in November, Sokoto State Governor Dr. Ahmed Aliyu approved ₦2 billion for the completion of a 35mw Independent Power Project—an initiative originally launched by former Governor Senator Aliyu Wamakko.
The goal was to ensure stable electricity, attract investment, and drive economic growth. Months later, residents say they’ve seen no improvement.
A kunu (local beverage) seller in the area, Miss Christian Joseph shared her struggles with keeping her drinks cold for customers during the current heatwave.
“I wake up at 7:00 AM every day and take a bike to the barracks, where there’s always electricity. I go there to buy blocks of frozen pure water. One block costs N150, while regular pure water costs just N20. It’s a big difference. I also spend N300 on a bike to get there and another N300 to come back.
“I would be really happy if the government could give us electricity, even if it’s just for six hours a day. That way, I could freeze the pure water myself using my refrigerator. A bag of pure water costs N230, and with electricity, it takes only two hours to freeze. Then I could sell my kunu for N200 instead of N350 and still make a profit,” she said.
A home tutor who simply identified herself as Mrs. Sunday described how the outage is affecting the learning experience of her students.
“My students usually come to my house after school. I use a television and DVD player to teach them because I believe children remember what they see. But due to the poor power supply, I’ve had to switch to using my tablet. The problem is, I have to divide them into groups of five, and by the time I finish with the third group, my tablet’s battery is already low.
“If there was regular electricity, it would be easier to teach all of them at once. So I’m begging the government to help us with steady power supply because the future of our children is very important. Some parents are already thinking of withdrawing their children from the lessons because they don’t see much improvement.
“I just hope the lack of power doesn’t make some of us lose our jobs, especially since the government isn’t creating enough jobs in the state. I’ve taught in schools for over seven years, and the salary isn’t encouraging. This home lesson job has actually been better than working in schools,” she said.
“I use a TV and DVD player to teach because children remember visuals better. But now I rely on a tablet, which runs out of battery after teaching two or three groups.
“Some parents are considering pulling their kids out. It’s frustrating. I’ve taught in schools for seven years, and home tutoring was finally paying off—until now.”
For a fan and air conditioner seller, Mr. Musa Hamza, the power crisis has almost brought his business to a halt.
“In February, I had more sales of ceiling fans and air conditioners because prices were cheaper, and there was regular electricity. People felt it was the right time to buy. But fast-forward to this month, and over seven of my customers have come back, asking me to buy back the air conditioners because there’s hardly any power supply.
“Some even said the little light they get—about three hours on some days—can’t even carry the air conditioner. When it comes to sales, I’ve only sold three ceiling fans from last month till now. With no electricity, people don’t feel the need to buy them, and they’re also expensive.
“I sell air conditioners for ₦230,000. Ceiling fans have different prices—small ones cost ₦20,000, and the bigger ones go for ₦35,000 or ₦40,000. So, before people buy, they think about the poor power supply and often change their minds.
“Even my customers who have solar power at home still complain. Their solar systems can’t power air conditioners. To get enough solar batteries for that, it would cost about ₦1,200,000. And in this economy, most people can’t afford to spend that kind of money because they have other important needs.”
“Back in February, people were buying fans and ACs. Now, over seven customers have returned asking for refunds because there’s barely any power to use them.
“Even those with solar say their systems can’t power ACs. To upgrade, they’d need ₦1.2 million for batteries alone, which most can’t afford.”
A saleslady at a meat and cold drink shop, Miss Norah Friday said their shop has stopped stocking chicken entirely.
“We sell chicken, ice fish, cow meat, and cold drinks. But because there’s no steady power supply and our solar refrigerators aren’t working well, we’ve stopped buying chicken. Now, we only buy ice fish and cow meat. We still sell cow meat because our customers ask for it every day.
“When the ice around the fish starts to melt, we quickly smoke the fish with fire to stop it from spoiling. For the drinks, we buy ice blocks from the barracks to keep them and the meat cold, but that costs us extra money. We had hoped our solar freezers would keep everything frozen, but they haven’t worked as expected.
“I would be happy if the government could reduce this burden caused by the lack of electricity. Even getting power for just 6 to 7 hours a day—whether in the morning or at night—would really help. In a country like this, we need to be making money, not losing it in business.
“Our solar freezers aren’t reliable. We now focus on cow meat and ice fish. When the ice melts, we smoke the fish to keep it from spoiling. We buy ice blocks just to stay in business—it’s added costs every day.”
Mr. Aliyu Mande, who runs a POS business, spoke about the financial toll of charging equipment daily.
“I’ve been running my POS business for four years now. From the start, I didn’t rely on public electricity because I know how rarely we get light on Offa Road. So I bought a Sunking solar system, and it worked well for me while I was still paying for it. But about four months after I completed the payment, the solar batteries started having issues. When I asked for a new battery, the price was too high, so I had to forget about it.
“Now, the solar only lasts for two hours, and I have six POS machines. To charge them all, I spend ₦1,200 each time—and I charge them twice a day. That’s ₦2,400 daily, just for charging. This is really affecting my business, because I only make money when customers withdraw cash and pay charges of ₦100 or ₦200 and above.
“Spending that much on charging while still having to pay my staff at the end of the month is draining. If the government could just give us steady electricity, it would really help me earn more. We’re not asking for too much—we just need power, especially to reduce the heat. With light, we can at least use electric tools to cope,” he said.
“My solar battery started failing four months after I finished paying for it. Now I spend ₦2,400 daily just to charge six POS machines. I only make money when people withdraw cash and pay small charges—so the expenses really hurt.”
Interestingly, for some, the power crisis has actually been profitable. Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, who operates a device-charging business, said his income has increased by over 50%.
“I started charging phones, laptops, power banks, rechargeable fans, and torches in 2020. I already know the time of year when business moves fast here on Offa Road—and this is that season. What I’ve noticed is that from the end of February to August, there’s barely any power supply. But from September to February, we usually have more light.
“One of my friends who works with the power company once told me that the reason there’s little light during this time is because of the extreme heat from the sun. It’s bad for the transformers, so they don’t turn them on often. But during the harmattan season, they need the transformers to be warm, so there’s more power supply.
“By the end of January, I wasn’t making much from charging, but I wasn’t worried. I knew that during this season, everyone would want to charge their gadgets. No matter how much I increase my prices, my charging spot is always full before 9 a.m.
“I charge Android phones for ₦200, power banks for ₦300, rechargeable fans for ₦400, and POS machines for ₦200. In less than three hours, everything is fully charged and a new batch of gadgets is already waiting.
“Still, I hope the government provides stable power. People are spending too much just to stay connected,” he said.
