Millers, barbers, tailors deplore massive blackout in the North

Barbers, tailors, millers and owners of small businesses yesterday rued the impact of the massive blackout that hit major parts of the North, following a fault at the 330kV DC Transmission Line.

The incident, which caused a blackout in the North-East, Norath-West and parts of the North-Central, affected the line that is supposed to be a backup for electricity supply to states under the franchise of the Kaduna Electric, Jos Electricity Distribution Company and Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KedCo), Daily Trust gathered.

This led the distribution companies (discos) to receive a total of 160 megawatts of electricity from the grid.

The 330kV DC Transmission Line was adopted after vandalisation of the 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines 1 and 2 on Friday.

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The incident has further compounded the problems of people living in these areas after witnessing a bout of blackout that was occasioned by the national grid thrice last week with some states going from three to 10 days without power.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the 330kV DC Ugwaji–Apir Double tripped due to a fault and plunged the region into darkness.

Its General Manager in charge of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said at approximately 4:53am on Monday, the Ugwuaji–Markurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped and 243 megawatts (MW) on that line was transferred to Line 1 on the same route but at 4:58am, Line 1 also tripped, resulting in a total loss of 468MW.

“Around 5:15am and 5:17am Line 1 and Line 2 were tried, but they all tripped immediately on the same relay indication”, the TCN spokesperson said.

She said two teams of linesmen were dispatched to identify the area of the incident, one from the Apir Transmission Sub-region and another from the Enugu Transmission Station, and that the Apir team patrolled the line, but was unable to locate the cause of the tripping. She said the lines patrol team from Enugu Region of TCN were unable to commence lines patrol yesterday, due to the ‘sit-at-home’ directive in the South-east for October 21st and 22nd, 2024.

Timeline of grid collapse in 2024

The first grid collapse in 2024 occurred on February 4, data from the Independent System Operator (ISO) showed, resulting in drop in generation to 59.90MW from 2,658.75MW.

This was followed by another incident on March 28 with generation dropping to 0.00MW from 3.843MW. Then on April 15, generation dropped to 64.70MW from 2,583.77MW. The fourth occurrence was on July 6 with generation dropping to 120.60MW from 1,502MW.

The fifth was on August 5 with generation dropping to 1,255MW from 3,241MW. The disturbance was further witnessed on October 14, dropping to 42.70MW from 3,924MW. The seventh was on October 15, which led power generation to drop to 48.60MW from 1,884MW and the last was on October 19, which saw generation dropping to 47MW from 3,759MW.

However, the TCN maintained that only one total grid collapse was witnessed during the year, stating that the rest were partial disturbances.

Toll on small businesses

A small-scale rice miller, Bashir Ismail Usman, said for days local millers who could not afford diesel stopped production because of poor electricity supply, thereby disrupting supply to the markets.

He said over 50 small-scale rice millers along Kwanar Dawaki (a rice milling hub in Kano) have stopped production because of energy cost. “Even the large-scale millers are struggling with the cost of diesel,” he added.

According to him, the price of rice remains high because small-scale millers are not producing while large-scale ones try to recoup the money they spent on diesel.

Speaking in the same vein, a tailor at Zazzau Designers Tailoring Services, Muhammad Sani, said the rising cost of fuel and near absence of electricity supply has affected his work.

Jamilu Abdulwahab, who runs a business centre opposite the Federal High Court on Gyadi Gyadi Court Road, said until recently, he rarely used generator set, but now relies on it despite the cost of petrol.

“I have to use a generator from morning till evening and you know what that means in these difficult times. You know when I use the generator, my profit will not be enough for me to remain in business,” he said.

Similarly, Umar Faruk, owner of Decent Barbing Saloon, said he has been using solar inverters for the past three days.

Danladi Ibrahim, who owns a small welding factory, said Nigerians will continue to suffer until governments at all levels get the electricity sector right. “Today’s power outage in the North is not new; we have been in this for a very long time. My trade relies on energy. We fabricate doors, windows and others. We have been grounded because there is no electricity and we can’t afford diesel. For us the poor, the essence of government is lost,” he said.

Jigawa

In Jigawa, residents have been without electricity for almost 10 days.

Yusha’u Isma’il, a tailor in Sha’iskawa area in Dutse, said for 10 days, he has not worked. He said hardship is at his doorstep now because of the power supply situation, with customers attacking him despite knowing the challenge.

The tailor pleaded with the government to take necessary action about the electricity situation.

Ibrahim Ahmad, a tailor in Dutse Market, said all tailors in the market have stopped work, as according to him, the petrol price was too high for them to consider generators.

Gombe

Also, in Gombe State, Ibrahim Shuaibu, who runs a tailoring shop, said despite opening daily for business, he has not sewn up to five sets of clothes in the past one week owing to epileptic power supply. He said because of the high cost of petrol, he could not run his industrial sewing machine. His story is similar to those of most of the tailors in that area of the market.

Zamfara

Abdulhadi Musa, a tailor at Press Centre Complex, Gusau, said the prolonged power outage had crippled their business, as according to him, some tailors have completely stopped opening their shops.

“You know we are low income earners; majority of us cannot afford generating sets. We largely depend on the electricity being supplied to us by the electricity distribution company and with the recent development, the supply has been reduced drastically”, he said.

Yusuf Bello Gummi, a barber at the same complex, said though he was able to buy a generating set, customers were complaining about the new charges.

“Before the recent development, I was charging N300 per adult head and N200 for children. Now, I increased the charges to N450 and N250 respectively because of the fuel price. However, many customers cannot afford it due to the economic hardship”, he said.

Kaduna

Jamilu Ibrahim, a salon owner along Faki Road, Tudun Wada, Kaduna, said they have resorted to using rechargeable clippers to attend to their customers due to the prolonged power outage.

“I used to charge my clippers at night at home but now that there is no electricity, I don’t know what to do. This lack of electricity is very disturbing”, he said.

Bauchi

In Bauchi, not only small business owners lamented the situation, journalists also said their jobs are being affected. Some of them who spoke to Daily Trust, said they had to move to the Government House to charge their gadgets.

A barber, Ibrahim Abdullah, said the blackout has affected his take-home pay because of low patronage. Hajiya Tasalla, who sells soft drinks by the roadside, said her sachet water business has been crippled.

She said: “I cannot get ice-block around here. I have to travel down to Fadaman Mada from Low Cost before I can get one. Where will I get the transport fare from? Am I going to add it to the price of the soft drinks? The economic hardship has reduced the number of people buying soft drinks.”

Outage in Adamawa also

Malam Ado Abubakar, who runs a tailoring shop, explained that his shop is not located in a “Band A” area, which is the category of locations that have access to steady power supply.

As a result, he has to rely on a generator, which is not only expensive, but also unreliable. He also noted that the high cost of fuel has compounded his problems as it affects his profits. Mr Babs Cuts, a barber, said the development  has reduced the number of customers he gets on a daily basis.

Katsina

Abdullahi Sani, popularly known as Sunshine, the owner of Sunshine Barbershop in Katsina, has this to say: “Although I am using rechargeable clippers – and I have a lot of them – I find it difficult to fuel my power generator all day long. So, sometimes I have to take my clippers home to recharge, using our generator at home.

“Another problem I have noticed is that you hardly get new customers, because at night, someone who is just walking by your shop, could see your barbing salon and just decide to barb or shave when there is electricity”, he said.

On his part, Abba Dollar, who owns a commercial phone charging kiosk, said the grid collapse is both a blessing and a curse for him.

“The number of phones we are receiving daily has increased, but the fuel we are consuming has increased too.

“We charge N100 per phone irrespective of the power source we use, but we may consider increasing the charge while using a generator if this problem persists,” Abba Dollar said.

How we are coping- Sokoto residents

In Sokoto State, Malama Zainab, a housewife who lives at Arkilla Area, said they are now buying a Jerry can of water between N150 and N200. “Before the outage, a Jerry can was just N70. But today, I bought 10 Jerry cans at the cost of N1,500. “We have not been getting water supply from  the Sokoto State Water Board for over a decade now. We are only surviving on boreholes drilled by our neighbours.

“But they cannot pump the water because of the outage and you know fuel is equally costly,” she said. Malam Auwal Zubairu also made a similar complaint, describing the situation as disturbing.

Nasarawa

Residents of Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State have also expressed concern over the power outage.

Narrating his ordeal, a rice dealer at Kilema Rice, Musa Dangana, said for over two days now he has not been able to do any reasonable business owing to the blackout.

Minister constitutes c’ttee to investigate grid collapse

Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has set up a forensic investigative committee to address the incessant grid collapses. A statement by the minister’s media aide, Bolaji Tunji, said Adelabu expressed worry over the disturbance on the national grid which threw some sections of the country into darkness.

The minister said the incident was “capable of rubbishing the giant strides made in the last one year which has led to an increased generation and distribution of 5, 527 megawatts, a record generation in three years”.

The constituted committee’s mandate is “to advise the government on necessary solutions to make the national grid robust and reliable in addition to the ongoing efforts of the government like the Presidential Power Initiatives and the Nigeria Electricity Transmission Project.

“The committee is also to establish the root cause of both incidents, especially a review of potential sabotage on the system,” the statement read.

Declare state of emergency in power sector

The President of the Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Kunle Kola Olubiyo, has urged the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the power sector.

Olubiyo, in a statement, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to as a matter of urgent national interest review the power sector privatisation exercise.

He called for a firm and proactive presidential directive to rescue the sector.

By Faruk Shuaibu (Abuja), Ahmad Datti (Kano), Ali R. Ali (Dutse), Amina Abdullahi (Yola), Mohammed I. Yaba (Kaduna), Umar Muhammed (Lafia), Yusha’u A. Ibrahim (Gusau), Haruna G. Yaya (Gombe), Tijjani Ibrahim (Katsina) & Abubakar Auwal (Sokoto)