The absence of reliable electricity supply, further compounded by insurgency, has continued to disrupt businesses and other operations in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three states, known as BAY states, are the hardest impacted by the activities of insurgency in the North East, where essential infrastructure, including electricity transmission lines, have been damaged.
In Borno, the transmission line from the National Grid feeding Maiduguri and its surrounds has been damaged, while the recently erected 50-megawatt station constructed by NNPC has encountered issues and is currently undergoing repairs for the last two weeks.
Residents of the city now rely on generators, a scenario that has crippled many enterprises, including nightlife in the town that still has a 10 p.m. curfew while nobody is permitted in or out of the city by 8 p.m.
Musa Abubakar, who sells sodas and ice water, said things are not simple, and one needs to purchase fuel at roughly N2,000 per litre to keep business running.
“With the current hot weather and fasting period, people are buying a sachet of ice blocks for N250 or N200, depending on the quantity,” Abubakar said.
In Yobe, where almost a similar situation exists, some business owners expressed their frustration with the power failure.
Mr Ofem Iviang, the Group Managing Director of Cedars and Unicorn Hotel Services, Damaturu, said power outages have significantly increased the company’s operating costs.
“Now we depend on diesel to run our generator, as electricity supply has become epileptic.
“The cost of running the business has tripled; we are almost running at a loss because everything we generate goes into buying diesel,” he lamented.