By; SANI ALIYU, Zaria
The story of power supply in Zaria and environs is very pathetic, it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for one to get true statistics of power supply in Zaria and Nigeria as a whole.
However, it is plain to see, and rightful to conclude that more than 90 per cent of the inhabited areas in Nigeria are in perpetual darkness while a little proportion get power supply that is only too epileptic to be regarded as one.
Since invention, through the time of industrial revolution till this moment, electricity has remained a fundamental factor in the development of science and technology.
Electricity is vital to our cooking and preserving them, operating hospital equipment, our fans and air conditioners; getting news from the television and operating our music sets; ironing our clothes, barbing and making our hair and doing a host of other things.
Each of these things which electricity aids us in doing has other areas where they impact on our lives.
For example, if for the reason of the absence of electricity, and individual could not cook and eat, he or she would remain hungry.
And such could have further impact on his/her work, and could even lead to deterioration of body functions. Again if for the absence of electricity, and individual could not listen to a vital news story on the television, such person might have his/her fortune badly affected.
In the same way, for the reason of lack of electricity, children might have to lose a significant aspect of the mass media as an agent of socialization
However, for reasons that have remained difficult to understand, Nigeria has continued to suffer the lack of basic paraphernalia of development, with the mass of the people groaning in pains over derivative problems. One of such fundamental and unceasing problems is failed power sector.
Timeliness and performances at work places can also be greatly affected by the absence of power supply, both in terms of preparing to go work from homes, and doing the work in our office especially in the age of computers.
By extension, a lot can be lost to business failures, which emanates from the lack or failure of power supply,
As a matter of fact, the absence of power supply can increase domestic expenditure beyond reasonable proportion, and can even sicknesses and diseases!
A list of the roles which electricity plays in our lives is as inexhaustible as the problems that can emerge as a result of the absence of it.
The individual who has suffered mishaps arising from the failure of power supply, or who could imagine what he/she stands to suffer as a result of the absence or failure of power supply would be able to get the true picture of what over 90 percent of Nigerians are suffering.
There have been thousands of cases and stories of mishaps arising from power failure or of absence of it in our homes, industries and, worst of all, hospitals! GSM torch lights are now used, while some are maimed in various places as a result of failure in terms of power supply.
Certain traits and ill conducts have equally emerged among the people, including workers of the Kaduna Electric (KEDCO), as a result of the same crises of power supply in the country.
In Nigeria, it has become ‘largely impossible for an individual to think of building a house, without thinking of the Solar capacity to buy.
However, it is undeniable that the larger masses of Nigerians who live in satellite towns and rural areas, have continued in the pains of the electricity crisis alongside the high charges despite skeletal service of not more than 3 hours a day which was in the mid night.
In the face of a worsening economic crisis in the country, poor power supply, high bills for the not consumed power (estimated billing) and bad attitude of many staff of KEDCO may plunge the community into anarchy.
It is, therefore, imperative for the key actors in the sector to call these cohorts (KEDCO Staff) into order to ameliorate the identified challenges.
