A widespread power outage across Northern Nigeria has led to a surge in the price of rice, with the cost per bag now reaching N160,000.
The blackout which is now over 9 days has disrupted essential services and increased operational costs for businesses, contributing to the steep rise in staple food prices and sparking concern among residents.
Some of the affected businesses including shopkeepers, millers and artisans, who spoke while reacting to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described the situation as “pathetic”.
-
The survey examined the perennial collapse of national grid and the need for alternative power supply in the country.
Rice millers in Gombe expressed the severe impact of the blackout on their operations. Musa Arab, a miller from Nassarawo Industrial Layout, noted, “We must invest in power because it is the biggest determining factor for industries to thrive.”
He explained that high fuel costs made it impossible to rely on generators, causing mills to reduce rice supplies, which in turn threatens food security.
Another business owner, Yusuf Ibrahim, warned of rising inflation, saying, “Some had jerked up their charges to cover the expenses on diesel, thereby affecting rice prices.”
-
Ugochukwu Daniel, a bartender in Bauchi, emphasised the reliance of his business on electricity, adding, “My trade is about chill drinks, and it survives on electricity to operate; otherwise, you will be out of business.”
A check by NAN at the Gombe Main market showed that a 100 kilogramme of rice was sold for between N120,000 and N160,000, as against N110,000 and N150,000, before the blackout.
In the laundry sector, Samuel Adamu reported resorting to charcoal for ironing, despite the price increase from N5,000 to N15,000. He said, “Presently, I do wash the cloth, and engage someone for ironing.”
He said most cleaners in the area had resorted to fabricated iron charcoal in spite of hike in its prices which suddenly jumped from N5,000 to N15,000.
Adamu said the situation also encouraged division of labour in laundry to cut cost and make some gains.
“Presently, I do wash the cloth, and engage someone for ironing. The charge is N300 per set as against N150”.
-
While advocated development of renewable energies to enhance power supply in the country, Adamu urged security agencies to intensify efforts towards electrical installations in the country.
In the same vein; Mr Muhammad Adamu, Chairman, Jigawa State House Assembly Committee on Power and Energy, said the Jigawa Electricity Law 2024, made sound provisions to improve power generation and distribution in the state.
This, he said, was an offshoot of the devaluation brought about by the 5th alteration of the constitution, where removed power from the executive legislative list and to the concurrent list.
“It empowered the state houses of assembly to enact laws on power. The committee has also carefully pursued the bill and reviewed its structure and the promise it holds for the state power sector, infrastructure and the overall economy of the state.
“The new law will pave way for the establishment of Jigawa Electricity Commission, to regulate the state’s electricity market,” he said.
According to Adamu, the law will protect residents and investors in the energy sector through ensuring prepaid meter installation and possibility of recouping investor’s funds as well as address vandalism.
“The law will lead to provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable power, essential for development of all sectors of the economy, particularly in rural areas,” Adamu said.
“Vandalism will be over because we pay Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) money for powered supplies, but whenever there is problem of damages or broken down transformers, it is either the communities or individuals that pay for the repairs.”
Tinubu expresses concern, order restor of power
President Bola Tinubu has expressed concern over the recent blackout in the northern region of Nigeria.
Tinubu announced efforts to end the disruption that paralysed social and economic activities. He summoned Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, and National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
The president, according to a release issued yesterday by his adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, directed the minister and relevant agencies to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the north.
Tinubu said he was saddened by the reports of vandalism and wilful destruction of power infrastructure and other public assets, which caused the blackout.
In a meeting with Adelabu, who briefed on efforts by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to repair the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines, the president directed a long-term solution to the problem.
Tinubu charged TCN engineers to ensure immediate relief to the people who, he said, needed electricity to sustain their social and economic activities.
To ensure that restoration work continued unhindered, Tinubu also the NSA to work with the army and air force to deploy adequate security personnel, including aerial cover, to protect the engineers fixing the damaged transmission line.
The president implored traditional rulers, community leaders, and other leaders of thought to work with security agencies to protect public assets and infrastructure.
According to Tinubu, government will no longer condone deliberate sabotage and destruction of public utilities.
The federal government also hinted on the possibility of establishing a decentralised national grid to ensure that the entire country was not thrown into darkness at the same time if anything happened to the central grid.
It assured that it was working hard to restore power in the 17 northern states, with an explanation that security challenge had been the reason behind the delay in fixing the vandalised facilities.
Addressing newsmen yesterday after meeting with Tinubu at State House, Abuja, the power minister attributed grid failure in the country to obsolete facilities.
According to Adelabu, one of the ways to stop nationwide blackout is to have state or regional grids so that a problem in a particular line will not affect the others.
Answering questions on incessant blackout, as witnessed in recent times, Adelabu said, “The grid actually was disturbed one time, and we deliberately shut it down. The second time because of the explosion of the transformer at Jebba plant before this, the last disturbance on the grid was about four months ago, which meant that we have been managing the grid.
“Let me tell you, the truth of the matter is we have old infrastructure. We have a national grid that is more than 50 years old. We have national grid whose transmission lines are weak, the towers are falling, and the substations, the transformers are old. In fact, the transformer that actually exploded in Jebba was 47 years old. We’ve been trying to revamp this, to change them, but they cannot all be changed overnight.
“So it’s like you’re having a rickety car. You’ll be expecting breakdown once in a while. What we continue to do is continue to manage the grid to prevent frequent occurrence of the grid disturbance, until we’re able to completely overhaul the grid itself, then we’ll have reliable grid.
“Secondly, we are working on establishing what is called a super grid, which is a backup of failover, optional grid. If the national grid has a problem, there will be an alternative route through which power can be transmitted. That is what we are working on.
“Then, lastly, is the fact that the world has moved beyond having a centralised grid. Grid must be regionalised. We must have state grids, so that each of the regionalised grids will be insulated from others. A problem in a particular line will not affect the others.
“That is what we are working on. Until that is done, we believe that we’ll keep managing what we have and reduce the frequent occurrence of the grid disturbance.”
The minister said he had briefed Tinubu on the blackout in the northern states, adding that the president had directed the NSA to provide security to TCN to fix the vandalised facilities.
He said, “My meeting with Mr President, among other things, included the issue of the disturbance in electricity supply to the northern part of Nigeria, about 17 states. We discussed the root cause of this, which was basically due to vandalism of the transmission lines of Shiroro-Kaduna line, which is the major line that supplies electricity to the north.
“The Transmission Company of Nigeria had already set out to fix this line. What they have asked for, which has been provided to them now, is the security cover of the National Security Adviser through the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Air Staff to enable them restore the damaged lines. We are optimistic that very soon this will be fully restored.
“We have also explored the alternative line of providing light to the north through the Ikot Ekpene substation, supplied from the Calabar plant. But the line got cut along the line, and we’re also trying to fix that. And if you remember, at the last FEC meeting, one of the approvals for the ministry of power was actually the upgrade of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, which is the major line that supplies electricity to the northern part of the country.
“We already have approval for this, it’s one of the oldest transmission lines that we have in Nigeria, and we believe that it requires an upgrade, and through the magnanimity of Mr President and the Federal Executive Council, we got an approval to fix the line on a permanent basis. Once this is done, I believe that power to the north will be more stable than we are experiencing right now.”
On whether Nigerians will be compensated for the days they were in darkness, the minister responded in the affirmative.
According to him, “Yes, what we are working on, like I’m going to have a meeting with the Chairman of NERC, and all the Discos, for those days during which they suffered blackout there should not be billing of any sort for any customer, be it household, office consumer or industrial consumer, they will be immune for billing for those periods.”
Norther governor speaks
Northern states governors, at a joint meeting with the region’s traditional rulers, Chief of Defence Staff, and other stakeholders, yesterday, addressed the ongoing blackout in the region and other challenges affecting them, including security concerns, economic issues, and sustainable development priorities.
The presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, also yesterday, reacted to the continued power outage in several parts of the country, especially North-east and North-west.
That was as the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) said the airstrikes by Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai had eliminated scores of Boko Haram terrorists in two key locations in Bula Marwa area of Borno State.
Acting under the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF), at a meeting in Kaduna, Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, the forum’s chair, raised concerns about the power outage caused by vandalism of critical infrastructure.
Yahaya called for investments in new transmission lines and energy diversification to prevent future disruptions.
Yahaya also stressed the need to move beyond symbolic meetings, urging NSGF and the Northern Traditional Rulers Council to develop practical, results-oriented strategies tailored to the region’s peculiar challenges.
“The time to walk the talk is now,” he said, stressing that unity, determination, and bold leadership would steer the region towards a more prosperous future.
The NSGF chairman emphasised that forum under his leadership was committed to charting a cohesive agenda that would leverage north’s potential for sustainable growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment