“Up NEPA!” screamed the children. It is an exclamation that competes with “thank God” in Nigeria. We grew up shouting it, our parents said it not as frequently as we, but it is a truly made in Nigeria product. It is becoming an unpopular term these days considering that we now have alternatives everywhere to the electricity provided by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria previously NEPA (National Electric Power Authority).
Everywhere in Nigeria, there is a persistent sound; night and day it is heard. The fumes rising from each part of the country might make a visitor think Nigeria is one huge fire starting slowly. Global warming is not a source of worry to the people here as that smoke is a necessary evil. And so our people go on screaming Up NEPA! But what really is Up NEPA? Public electricity in Nigeria is unstable and comes on randomly for a few hours a day, a week and sometimes never at all in a year. Some parts of Africa’s most populous country have never seen a light bulb glow. So when this highly needed essential comes on, in the joy and euphoria of the moment, our young people celebrate with the exclamation.
Necessity said some person is the mother of invention. Early in the 90’s when the power situation worsened, Nigerians were pressured to look for alternative power supply. They found power generating sets. They have been there ever since. The need for them increased as the power problem worsened. Smaller ones began to emerge, mechanics skilled and unskilled in their maintenance appeared, spares, fakes and originals surfaced. Welcome to Nigeria where darkness is a sector and an industry a large employer of many.
The smallest generator today comes in various colours and powers an estimated 20 million homes nationwide. Given the monikers ‘I better pass my neighbour’, or ‘saloon gen’, these small generators provides more electricity that the people can relate to more than the government owned PHCN. This generator though has been responsible for deaths in many homes and small business places. It is not a good solution; it is a curse that a country so rich cannot provide one of the most basic needs for living in the 21st century.
The mechanics are always on call to fix this curse. Many have become skilled in the basic maintenance of their ‘I better pass my neighbor.’ A few days ago, yours truly encountered an old woman cleaning the spark plug herself late at night. In another scenario, an eight year old was seen measuring engine oil to mix with fuel for the generator. The problems from this little generator abound. A visit to one chocked face-me I face-you compound in Orile saw a dozen of those little smoke generating machines lined up on each side of the very narrow passage. The fumes in that passage were hell to the eyes and utter attack to the lungs. There is not enough space in the compound to place them elsewhere.
Businesses cannot start without a daily change of spark plugs. Carburetor and capacitors are always faulty. The mechanic must come quickly on okada to change the starter chord which pulled out from obvious wear. It cannot carry load, turn off some lights. The problems number on and on but our people continue to bear the curse.
The deaths and injuries from this solution turned curse is too numerous to number.
Why Nigeria still has no electricity is an issue that has defied reasonable explanation. It appears Nigeria as a nation is using one ‘I better pass my neighbor’ to power 150million people. Or what else is responsible? The party in power has spent sums in billions of dollars and still our saloon gens are up and running round the clock.
The generator problem though is one Nigerians have come to live with. With subsidy removed from PMS, the cost of maintaining this curse is even higher. How long though will our people be made to start a product that is not good enough to give them one night of uninterrupted electricity? The generators are not good enough, not for the length of time we use them any way.
After two or three times getting one mechanic to do the same thing, our people grow impatient, abuse and quarrel with those mechanics and do away with them. For whatever reason, when it comes to the national I better pass my neighbor, our people have refused to change the mechanics who after spending our money to buy made in China parts continue to hang around our homes and sweet talk us to doing nothing. Until we decide to do away with these set of mediocre mechanics, we will continue to run these little curses and shout up NEPA!
Everywhere in Nigeria, there is a persistent sound; night and day it is heard. The fumes rising from each part of the country might make a visitor think Nigeria is one huge fire starting slowly. Global warming is not a source of worry to the people here as that smoke is a necessary evil. And so our people go on screaming Up NEPA! But what really is Up NEPA? Public electricity in Nigeria is unstable and comes on randomly for a few hours a day, a week and sometimes never at all in a year. Some parts of Africa’s most populous country have never seen a light bulb glow. So when this highly needed essential comes on, in the joy and euphoria of the moment, our young people celebrate with the exclamation.
Necessity said some person is the mother of invention. Early in the 90’s when the power situation worsened, Nigerians were pressured to look for alternative power supply. They found power generating sets. They have been there ever since. The need for them increased as the power problem worsened. Smaller ones began to emerge, mechanics skilled and unskilled in their maintenance appeared, spares, fakes and originals surfaced. Welcome to Nigeria where darkness is a sector and an industry a large employer of many.
The smallest generator today comes in various colours and powers an estimated 20 million homes nationwide. Given the monikers ‘I better pass my neighbour’, or ‘saloon gen’, these small generators provides more electricity that the people can relate to more than the government owned PHCN. This generator though has been responsible for deaths in many homes and small business places. It is not a good solution; it is a curse that a country so rich cannot provide one of the most basic needs for living in the 21st century.
The mechanics are always on call to fix this curse. Many have become skilled in the basic maintenance of their ‘I better pass my neighbor.’ A few days ago, yours truly encountered an old woman cleaning the spark plug herself late at night. In another scenario, an eight year old was seen measuring engine oil to mix with fuel for the generator. The problems from this little generator abound. A visit to one chocked face-me I face-you compound in Orile saw a dozen of those little smoke generating machines lined up on each side of the very narrow passage. The fumes in that passage were hell to the eyes and utter attack to the lungs. There is not enough space in the compound to place them elsewhere.
Businesses cannot start without a daily change of spark plugs. Carburetor and capacitors are always faulty. The mechanic must come quickly on okada to change the starter chord which pulled out from obvious wear. It cannot carry load, turn off some lights. The problems number on and on but our people continue to bear the curse.
The deaths and injuries from this solution turned curse is too numerous to number.
Why Nigeria still has no electricity is an issue that has defied reasonable explanation. It appears Nigeria as a nation is using one ‘I better pass my neighbor’ to power 150million people. Or what else is responsible? The party in power has spent sums in billions of dollars and still our saloon gens are up and running round the clock.
The generator problem though is one Nigerians have come to live with. With subsidy removed from PMS, the cost of maintaining this curse is even higher. How long though will our people be made to start a product that is not good enough to give them one night of uninterrupted electricity? The generators are not good enough, not for the length of time we use them any way.
After two or three times getting one mechanic to do the same thing, our people grow impatient, abuse and quarrel with those mechanics and do away with them. For whatever reason, when it comes to the national I better pass my neighbor, our people have refused to change the mechanics who after spending our money to buy made in China parts continue to hang around our homes and sweet talk us to doing nothing. Until we decide to do away with these set of mediocre mechanics, we will continue to run these little curses and shout up NEPA!
Comments