Customers of Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) have appealed to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to fix the lost and faulty transformers in Hadejia, and some part of Kastina state.
A cross section of Kano residents, who spoke to Blueprint recently in Kano, lamented that the power shortage was frustrating the small-scale industries in the city.
According to them, power shortage and rationing of power supply in affected areas of Hadejia, Daura, Kankia, Dakata and some parts of Katsina was discouraging business activities in the areas and sending youths into unemployment on weekly basis.
A young cobbler and an entrepreneur in Dakata, Kano, Muhammadu Sani, said the power shortage had made business activities difficult for him as he often time waits for days before power would be rationed to them for him to resume work.
Sani said he has two wives whom have been living together comfortably but added that: “I am having problems meeting my responsibilities as a man, not because I am lazy but for the shortage power supply which has made business difficult for many of us in this part of Nigeria.
“I appeal to TCN to as a matter of urgency to fix the transformers that supply power to this region. Many of the youths in Kano have taken to agriculture and small-scale businesses since President Muhammadu Buhari came on board to improve generation but for transmission, we can’t enjoy what we deserve,” he said.
Also, Hassan Yakubu, a graduate of Business Administration, who served in Kano, said that he had to stay back after his compulsory one year to set up a laundry service since the power supply was regular and there was no job available anywhere for him.
Yakubu said he was very much comfortable in his business except for the current challenges he is facing.
Appealing to the TCN to strive to fix the transformers in the interest of people like him who depend on power to do their business, he said: “the efforts of the youths to grow the economy of Kano would be threatened if the power shortage and rationing were allowed to last any longer’’.
On his part, a civil servant from Katsina, Alhassan Idris, said the situation was really unfortunate and wouldn’t have deteriorated to this level if the burnt transformer had been fixed since 2014.
Idris added, “We are missing network news and other political programmes that keep us up-to-date with the political activities toward the forthcoming elections. At a time like this, we need to be current and informed about the trends in Nigeria.”
When contacted, the acting head of KEDCO’s corporate communication unit , Sani Bala Sani, said the power shortage was not deliberate but due to the loss of the two transformers which give a capacity of 300MVA.
Expressing his fears over the latest 150MVA transformer that developed fault only last week, Sani noted that they wouldn’t want their customers to suffer for long before it is fixed.
He appealed to numerous KEDCO customers to exercise patience, adding that the TCN crew was already working towards getting one of the transformers to work as soon as possible.
It can be recalled that the management of KEDCO had in Jan. 9, attributed the power shortage in parts of Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States to the faulty 150MVA transformer which the TCN’s crew is working to fix.
