A cross-section of residents and business owners in Enugu State have lamented continuous losses due to epileptic power and the high cost of electricity tariff witnessed in the state. They made their feelings known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the incessant power outages in the state.
The residents called on the Enugu State Government to use the increased monthly Federal allocation and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), to build a Power Plant in the state. The Methodist Archbishop of Enugu, Most Rev.
Christopher Edeh, described the situation as “worrisome” considering the amount of money the Federal Government had spent on the power sector. Edeh complained that the churches ran generators for their programmes worth millions of naira.
The cleric, however, urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the power sector. The SMEs also urged the Federal and state governments to, in the interim, invest in the national centralised grid system to ensure that the frequency of collapse is checked.
A tailor in Mayor Bus stop, Agbani Road, Mr Chukwumerije Ugwu, said that his productivity had nosedived within the last three months due to epileptic power supply. Ugwu said that most times, he would appeal to his customers to be patient with him, but some of them would get angry and take their patronage away.
According to him, just recently, after pressure from a customer owing to two-days blackout, I used a charcoal iron to sew the cloth, and unfortunately, the cloth got burnt, and I spent N8,000 to replace the cloth. “There is a need for Enugu State to build and run its own power generation and transmission system. Just like what was obtainable in Abia with the Geometric Power.
“A vast area of the Abia State currently enjoys uninterrupted supply devoid of total grid collapse,” he said. A cold store operator in Awkunanaw, Mrs Roseline Ukachi, said that the cold room business had consistently witnessed losses since the grid collapse persisted with attendant epileptic supply.
Ukachi said that due to unreliable power supply, most times the perishable items stored in the cold room would deteriorate, leading to losses. She said, “Our customers quarrel with us and at times demand we pay for the spoiled perishable items put in our care.
“We are appealing to all concerned, both the Federal and Enugu State Government as well as DisCos, TelCos and GenCos, to help us, as the losses and recent burden of running cold store business is extraordinary.” A barber in the popular Ngwo Park, Mr Obinna Ejikeme, said that putting the entire Enugu metropolis under “band A” had increased their woes and made life difficult for barbers.
“We hardly have a power supply, and I spend about N20,000 weekly on fuel for my generator”. A restaurant owner, Mrs Lydia Utuk, said that she ran her generator for about 12 hours to freeze her foodstuffs, especially meat and other perishables.
“This is affecting me adversely. I’m appealing to the governments to urgently address the problem as I don’t have money for solar energy, ” she said. A resident, Mr Richard Umeh, advised Nigerians to resort to solar energy as the presidency had decided to leave the national grid.
Reacting, the MainPower Electricity Distribution Limited (MEDL), in charge of electricity distribution in Enugu State, said that the recent drop in power supply across the network in the state was due to inadequate gas supply to thermal generating stations (GenCos).
The MEDL Spokesman, Mr Emeka Ezeh, noted that this development had significantly reduced the volume of energy generated and, consequently, the allocation available to MEDL.
