Some residents and business owners in the Bwari area council of the FCT have decried the continuous power outage caused by the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

The residents, who spoke in separate interviews on Thursday in Abuja, said that the situation was not only causing discomfort but crippling economic activities in the area.

Ayu Jonathan, one of the residents, said the inconsistent power supply to homes and business areas was too much discomfort, especially with the current weather and economic challenges.

He added that consistent power outages may cause small businesses to fold up and that some businesses that needed constant power might no longer function properly.

According to him, the weather is already too hot, and everyone may want to enjoy the breeze from a fan or an air conditioner while indoors, especially after a long day of work or hustle, but there is no light.

Mr Jonathan said, “While some may get it for an hour or more, some areas do not even get it for a day or two. Some areas get it for just a few minutes, and it is gone, and this is not good, especially for those in the commercial areas where stores with frozen foods, blocks and the rest are sold.

”They require power to process and store these produce. It was not like this last year; at least there was an improvement from the power company, but since this year, everything seems different, and if it continues like this, it may cripple businesses.”

Mr Johnathan urged the federal government to address the epileptic power supply in Abuja and the nation and find a lasting solution.

Similarly, Ronke Adewunmi, a store owner in Bwari town, said that it was unfortunate that the situation was happening amid the high fuel cost.

She said this had cost many business owners their losses as some could not afford to switch to their generator sets, while those who could hike their prices.

”This power outage slowed down my business because, some days ago, everyone wanted cold drinks in large quantities, and I didn’t have any to sell. If I have to buy fuel to power my generator, I may have to increase the price of drinks, and people may not buy much because not many can afford it,” said Ms Adewunmi.

She added, “It is unfortunate that now that we are on a prepaid metre, we don’t get light constantly like before, and we need it for our businesses.

“I won’t make a profit if this continues. I am not happy at all. There is no light at home or in my shop. It’s disheartening.”

She added that relevant stakeholders must work speedily to restore power to communities in the area and discourage robbery attacks and other criminal activities at night.

Another resident, Matthew Onoja, a businessman, also said the government needed to put more effort into providing a better power supply, especially given the incessant hike in power tariffs.

“For the whole of yesterday, I could not do anything in my office because of this power outage. I work in a cyber cafe, and this power outage really affected us yesterday,” Mr Onoja explained. “With light, our customers have access to all our computers, but with the generator, we can only use three or four because that’s the much it can carry, so yesterday, we didn’t make much profit.”

He added, “Since the days of our forefathers, power has always been an issue in this country, even making other African countries make fun of us for our inconsistent power generation. The government should do something about this, it is not about increasing tariffs every time; at least let us see what we are paying for, and then we will not grumble if it increases again. I even came to work wearing rumpled clothes today, which is not nice.”

In another development, residents of Masaka in Nasarawa have also called on the government and relevant authorities to rectify issues surrounding the over one-month power outage in the area.

A businesswoman, Elizabeth Ehizo, said that a power failure in the area had slowed down her business. According to her, there has been no power supply for months.

Ms Ehizo said, “We have been buying diesel for our business, but the cost of diesel is very high, so we do not make profits again. The price of cold sachet water before now was N250 per bag, but it is now sold for N500 because of this power issue. We sell to retailers at the rate of N450, but customers are still complaining.

“How do we remain in business if we don’t bring the price up? We want those concerned to come and help us as we cannot continue depending on diesel for businesses.”

While expressing worry over the lingering situation, Joy Joseph, a supermarket owner. She said that the power outage had drastically affected her business and that she could no longer meet sales targets.

“It is almost impossible for me to sell cold drinks and water, and my customers are complaining. Ice blocks are now expensive; I buy one for N1,500 to cool the water and other drinks and still run at a loss after selling them,” said Ms Joseph.

Ms Joseph, while appealing for a speedy solution to the unfortunate situation, urged the government to improve the power system and ensure that policies meant to improve service delivery to consumers were achieved.

Meanwhile, another resident, Olaitan Awoso, a hairstylist, said that she had lost patronage in her salon due to the area’s lack of electricity. She said the situation was becoming unbearable for business owners who needed power to render services.

“The price of washing and drying hair before was N500, but now it is N1,200 and our customers are complaining. Most of them now buy shampoo and wash their hair themselves at home. This is not good for us. We need to do better as a government. People will appreciate it more if they see the light before they can pay for it or even at least enjoy what they paid for,” she said.

Ms Awoso prayed for divine intervention in the system and that the government listen to the people’s plight and bring succour to the economic challenges.

(NAN)