As the decline in power supply persists across the five South East states, inhabitants of Anambra State express their distress over the hardships brought about by this situation.
An investigation has revealed a severe water scarcity affecting all major towns in the state. In Anambra, public water supply is nearly non-existent, with state water supply and public utilities offices merely serving as physical spaces without any operational activities for years.
Consequently, many families now depend on generator-powered boreholes drilled on their premises to meet their water needs. However, for almost two months, electricity supply in most parts of Anambra has been erratic.
While some areas in Anambra experience perpetual darkness, those fortunate enough to receive power face low voltage issues insufficient to operate generators or other household appliances.
The soaring cost of fuel and gas has also restricted numerous commercial water vendors from conducting business, resulting in difficulties for families to access water. In many cases, water vendors have ceased operations, and the few remaining ones charge exorbitant prices.
For instance, in the Okpuno area of Awka, residents in high-rise buildings, unable to afford pumping water using private boreholes, now rely on public boreholes, many of which are located far away.
A resident, Mrs. Rose Obasi, expressed her frustration, stating, “In the 10 years I have lived in Awka, I have never experienced this level of suffering. Almost throughout this period, my children have been consistently late to school.”
“The reason is that they wake up and go to fetch water every morning; before they come back and prepare for school, it is already late.
“The stress they undergo to take water up to the third storey-building where we stay is another work. We are really suffering, and I don’t know when this will come to an end.”
Another resident of the area, Mrs Ifeoma Eke decried the impact of the current situation on women and children who are saddled with the responsibility of fetching water for household use.
“We now need to leave everything else to look for water. In many places, you buy one jerrican for 50 naira.
“You can imagine the impact of the stress on every family. The children are out looking for water when they are expected to get busy with other things,” Eke bemoaned.
A final year student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Amara Chukwudi, was full of frustration over the situation which had made them spend unnecessarily.
“I bathed this morning with sachet water. There was no light and we could not find any means of pumping water in our hostel.
“Remember the price of petrol is equally unfriendly. Nigeria is fast becoming uninhabitable,” she lamented.
A mother of three, Mariam Zaidu, also shared a discomforting tale about the water challenge.
“More regrettably, this is happening at a time when there is too much heat. My children could not sleep yesterday.
“At the same time, power supply has dropped drastically. We need urgent government intervention, honestly,” she concluded.
In Onitsha, the bustling commercial hub of Anambra State, concerns regarding the inadequate electricity supply have been voiced by consumers, prompting calls for the revocation of the license held by the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).
Several consumers, interviewed b, expressed dismay over the frequent and prolonged power outages imposed by EEDC, particularly during this critical period of economic crisis characterized by rampant hyperinflation of goods and services. They argued that such interruptions were significantly diminishing their economic prospects.
A local businessman, Mr. Oseka Ifeajuna, who owns a cold room in Onitsha, emphasized that Nigeria’s reluctance to emerge as an economic powerhouse is attributable to the self-serving interests of power distribution firm owners. He contended that if the Federal Government, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure, had considered engaging foreign electricity giants, the persisting issue of inadequate electricity supply in Nigeria would have been resolved.
Ifeajuna bemoaned the adverse impact of skyrocketing fuel costs on his business, citing a lack of viable alternatives for sustaining his cold room operations.
Echoing similar sentiments, Mr. James Onyedika, a barber, criticized both the Federal Government and EEDC for allegedly exploiting and undermining the economic interests of Nigerians. He accused them of actively contributing to widespread poverty through their policies and actions, describing the government and the power distribution company as “agents of darkness.” Onyedika further argued that the current administration was stifling the aspirations of skilled youths in Nigeria.
“This government is hypocritical. They don’t want poor people to survive in this country. How can you ask people to engage in one skill or the other, but at the end come up with one policy to cage the same people you pretend to be helping?” He queried.
He called for the withdrawal of the operating licence of EEDC, saying: ”It is highly unfortunate that a power distribution company managed by an Igbo man is contributing to poverty in the South East knowing that Igbos are industrious people who own several businesses and could be easily affected by poor supply of electricity.”
Reacting to this, the EEDC has insisted that it has the power to supply electricity in the entire South East zone, but stated that the supply of gas has been a major challenge.
In a press release by the spokesperson of the organisation, Mr Emeka Ezeh, EEDC said: “We wish to inform our esteemed customers that the current state of power supply within its network which has resulted in a drop in supply availability is due to low power generation caused by gas constraints to the thermal generating companies.
“This situation is beyond us, and this is not peculiar to EEDC. This development has resulted in low generation, leading to a reduction in the quantum of daily megawatt hour (MWH) of energy allocated to distribution companies nationwide.
“Consequently, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which is our primary source of power supply is constrained, as they only transmit what is generated and have resorted to System Load-shedding to forestall possible system collapse.
“This situation has equally impacted the quality of service to our customers, as we are contending with very low energy allocation wheeled to us by the TCN for distribution to our customers. A situation that has left us load-shedding available power to ensure it goes round.”
Meanwhile, as things stand, with the current rate of the dollar to Naira, which has remained high, the procurement of gas supply may remain high for a long time, and this will continually affect the allocation of power to EEDC, for onward distribution to end users.
A resident, Mr Bala Usman lamented that: “It is even worse that it is happening at this time when the weather is so hot.
“With the level of heat we are experiencing, and nonavailability of power, I’m afraid, we’re headed for the worst.”
