As the steady increase in the pump price of petrol continues to take its toll on Nigerians generally, generator technicians and sellers have cried out over low sales; BENJAMIN UMUTEME writes.
Technicians and sellers of power-generating sets (generators) have told Blueprint Weekend that the last increase in petrol price has left them reeling from a lack of patronage.
According to Chidi Ejike, a generator repairer in Jikwoyi, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), business has not been good.
Pointing to a corner in his shop where there used to be heaps of generators waiting to be serviced, Ejike said that the power-generating sets have been there since Tuesday. According to him, before the latest increase in the pump price of petrol, he hardly had time to rest, but now the story is different.
He said, “It has not been easy for me since this latest increment. Before, people were still managing to fuel their generators. But right now it is not easy for many of them. One of my customers told me that he has not used his generator in the last three months. He said his plan is to light up his house using solar.”
Againg, indicating to the two generating sets that were close to him, Ejike said “the situation was not easy for him at the moment.”
Also, John Oche, a technician, who repairs generators close at the popular phase 2 junction, said he doesn’t come out early again to the shop like he used to do.
Oche told this newspaper that the various increases in petrol price have significantly affected them as patronage had thinned in the last three months.
“Since Wednesday, I have only repaired two generators. One of my loyal customers told me on Thursday that he has gone solar due to the constant increase in petrol price.
“The people who normally bring their generator for servicing wvery week have reduced ‘seriously’. So, you can see that it is not easy for us
“The way it is now, I have to look for another job to combine with this one or my family will not eat,” he said.
‘Sales have dropped’
Even electronics stores are not finding it easy as sales on generators have gone down. At a popular electronics store along the Jikwoyi-Nyanya road, the attendant who spoke with this reporter on condition of anonymity said in the past three months, they have been able to sell only three generators.
According to him, the economic situation is contributing to low sales.
He said, “There was one man that came to ask for the price of a generator in September. He said he would come back to pick it up after he had agreed on the price. He didn’t come again, and two weeks ago, I ran into him at Phase 4 and I asked why he did not come again as agreed. He told me that after considering the costs he decided to instead go for solar power. According to him, he won’t have to bother again about the constant increase in the price of petrol.”
In Jikwoyi, a litre of petrol at ‘black market’ rate is about N1, 400.
A media practitioner who did not want his name in print told this reporter that the last time he spent N5, 000 to power the generator that he uses to pump water to his water tank he felt very bad. According to him, he used to spend half of that amount.
“Now, what I do is that it is only when I want to pump water to my tanks that I use my gen,” he said.
2023 $65bn gen imports
Data sourced by Blueprint revealed that Nigeria’s total generator imports in 2023 amounted to $65 billion. The country’s electricity needs are 48.6 per cent met by generators that run on diesel, gas, and petrol.
A breakdown revealed that the sum of $35,734.33K was spent to import generators from Germany; United States: $28,276.67K; China: $17,138.02K; Austria: $13,659.91K; India: $10,304.37K.
Data from Volza further showed that Nigeria imported 451 shipments of Genset during Mar 2023 to Feb 2024 (TTM). These imports were supplied by 20 foreign exporters to 32 Nigeria buyers, marking a growth rate of 229 per cent compared to the preceding twelve months. Within this period, in Feb 2024 alone, Nigeria imported 54 Genset shipments. This marks a year-on-year growth of 145 per cent compared to Feb 2023, and a 125 per cent sequential increase from Jan 2024.
Embracing alternative power
For many Nigerians, filling their generator tanks with petrol has increasingly become a herculean task. They said that with the increase in prices of ‘everything’, using their generators is the least of their worries.
Hence, in a bid to cut costs, many Nigerians are embracing solar energy.
For them the unreliable power supply coupled with the increase in electricity tariff was a deciding factor in turning to alternative power.
For media practitioner Ifeanyi Onuba, the constant increases in fuel price and the stress of having to get petrol at the filling station pushed him to go for solar energy.
According to him, the stress of having to get up late in the night to put off his genset when AEDC brings back power is no longer there.
He said, “I installed my solar in 2017. At that time, I was spending about N3000 everyday to power my generating set because I usually don’t have light at night. At that time, fuel was sold at N195 per litre, and also spent money to service the gen. I used the gen for about a year and it packed up so I had to buy another one. I now made the decision to get a solar panel. I spent N1.7 million to install. From that February 2017 till tomorrow, I have not bought fuel in my house, in fact, I don’t use fuel again.
“Let me just say I was spending an average of N2,000 per day, so, in a month I was spending about N60,000 on fuel and multiplying it by 12 that is about N720,000 for fuel alone. I service my gen every month because I use it every day. Somebody will come; I will buy engine oil which is about N1, 300. So, if you calculate N1, 300 monthly for the 12 months, that’s about N20, 000. Then, the technician that services the gen, I pay him N1, 500, multiply it by 12, which is about N18, 000.”
He said further, “So, if you now add N720, 000 plus N18, 000 plus N20, 000, that is roughly N800000 for a year, if you now calculate it till 2023, when subsidy was removed, that is roughly N4.8 million. During that period, I only spent N1.7 million initially, then last year, I changed my battery and I spent N360, 000. So, if you calculate N1.7 million plus N360, 000 that is about N2.1 million. In the six years, I normally replace the acid of the battery which is about N15, 000 and I do it twice which comes down to N30, 000 every year, multiply it by 6 that is about N180 000. When you look at it, you will see that I have saved about N2.5 million. Invariably, in the short run, it is expensive, in the long run; it saves a lot of money.
“Now, in my office, we also use solar. We were using N70-80,000 for diesel in a week, so in a month, we were spending about N400, 000 on diesel. And I can tell you that till today, we have not had any cause to put on our generator.”
