Manufacturers, small businesses groan – MAN

In Kaduna, businessmen and women said they are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea as far as high electricity billing is concerned, resulting to poor business activities.

State governments and public establishments are also suffering and complaining about the high electricity tariff.

A business woman, a grinding engine operator, Madam Victoria Nuhu said she has abandon her electricity powered engine due to high cost of electricity bills in recent times.

Artisans like barbers are also suffering from high electricity tariff. Mr Solomon Shaibu runs barbing saloon, using generator most of the time because his prepaid meter units cannot last him for hours.

“This is a terrible situation. The electricity bill is high, and the price of fuel is also high. I am forced to charge my customers seven hundred naira per head. The customer rush is very low nowadays due to economic hardship. In order to survive the situation, I have added pure water sales to my business”. Shaibu said.

A frozen fish seller, Mr. Abel Bako said he could no longer use his big generator to keep his deep freezer cold for the fish because of high cost of fuel.

“It is like jumping from fry pan to fire when I run from high cost of electricity tariff to land on high cost of fuel. The bulk of my fish got spoilt, and I lost huge amount of money. I am thinking of going into poultry business where little or no electricity supply is needed,” he stated.

Chairman, Kaduna branch of Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Raymond Anyanwu said the high cost of electricity has taken tolls on his members.

Speaking with Saturday Sun, Mr Anyanwu said the alternative should have been the use of diesel powered plant, but the high cost of diesel is also another problem.

“Honestly, the whole situation is a terrible one, and in all of this situation it is the customers that will bear the pains because no businessman or woman will like to operate at a loss”. He said.

In late July, the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria, had said that it cannot afford the N3.6 billion annual electricity bill.

The bill averages about N300 million monthly, given the cost of N206 per kWh under the Band A electricity tariff, which the institution had described as “unaffordable.”

The university made this known in a letter sent to President Bola Tinubu and signed by 40 professors from different departments. They called on Tinubu to intervene in the huge tariff, adding that universities should be shielded from the extremities of commercialisation.

Kaduna State government is not left out of this high tariff brunt as the Kaduna Electric had in July severed electricity supply to the Kaduna State Government House and other state government accounts due to unpaid bills.

The disconnection followed exhaustive efforts by the utility company to resolve the issue through consultations and reconciliations.

Meanwhile, Kaduna Disco said in a renewed effort to enhance power supply and ensure reliable service for its commercial and industrial customers, it has initiated upgrades to its power infrastructure and network rehabilitation across its franchise states.

The company’s Deputy Managing Director/COO, Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, said Kaduna Electric has created three 11KV commercial feeders in Kaduna and Sokoto states over the past months to strengthen power supply to its customers.

According to Sadiq Mohammed, the management has made multi-million-naira investments aimed at improving power quality, particularly for commercial and industrial customers, reducing both technical and commercial losses, and boosting the company’s revenue.

Power crisis, double tragedy for Borno’s economy, residents lament

Residents in Borno have described the protracted electricity problem in the area as a double tragedy for the economy of the state.

Since 2014, electricity facilities in Borno State have been under frequent attacks by insurgents and armed groups, leading to lack of power in the area. The 33 kv line and other power supply route that connect Borno to the power station in neighbouring Gombe State have been attacked by Boko Haram more than five times, putting the state’s electricity in dire situation.

Small and medium enterprises such as computer centres, saloon operations, frozen foods shops, cold-water business, iron/metal welding have continued to bear the brunt of this energy crisis, according to residents.

Abubakar Saleh, a computer centre operator in Maiduguri, said the electricity problem in Borno has worsened peoples’ economic situation as they struggle to bounce back after years of insurgency that pushed many out of business.

“It is a double tragedy for Borno’s economy since 2014. Many traders and small business owners were displaced from their means of livelihood by Boko Haram  , which was attacking people not only in their homes but also shops. So many businesses were closed,” he told Saturday Sun.

He said he could not afford to buy petrol, which costs N1, 300 per litre in Maiduguri, for his generator. This, he said, has halted his business and affected his living conditions as he could not work in the shop for over a week now.

Check for this story on Part 3-4

Manufacturers’ groan over high electricity bills (3)