For three months, residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, have not seen a bulb lit up in their homes due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

FIJ learnt that while most of the residents last had power in July, it was even earlier than that for some others. They explained that the high cost of fuel compounded the effect of the outage and plunged their lives and businesses into difficult situations.

Ben Miracle, an upholstery maker, told FIJ on Friday that the blackout has forced him to spend N32,500 on fuel daily, N162,500 weekly and N650,000 monthly. He said he is compelled to spend this amount due to the heavy machinery he uses for his business which requires 25 litres of fuel per day.

He explained that while the widespread outage began in July, the last time he had power in his home was in April.

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“The last time I had power in my home was in April due to a bad transformer, but as a businessman, sometime in July,” Miracle told FIJ.

“It has not been easy to stay afloat because I get to fuel my generator every day just to charge my gadgets, wash my clothes and freeze my food. For my business, it is even worse because we use 25 litres a day just to power our machinery.

Miracle said to cushion the effect of the blackout, some residents have now installed solar inverters, while some buy fuel and those who can’t afford it just continue to endure the blackout.

“Many residents now go into solar installations, while the rest end up buying fuel at a very crazy rate as well as some also just sleeping in a complete blackout,” Miracle told FIJ.

As to the cause of the outage, the businessman said the only explanation they got from the state government was, “The state said it was due to the collapse of the national grid and also feeder poles, I think.”

Seigha, a medical student and pianist, told FIJ that he also incurs more costs but on powering his phone daily. He said that it now costs him N2,100 to charge his phone weekly and N8,400 to do so monthly at the cost of N150 per charge.

The medical student said beyond the cost of powering his device, the outage also forced him to stop his piano practice. He said he last saw a powered bulb in his home in July.

“The last time I remember seeing my bulb light up was the first week in July; I have had to spend a significant amount of money charging my phone at areas that offer phone and power bank charging services. I pay N150 to charge my phone and I do it twice,” Seigha told FIJ.

“I also have been drawn several months behind in my piano practice, and other things. Apart from the pay-to-charge stuff, stores have also had to buy ice blocks to cool their stuff, and residents have had to go to gas-powered areas like Obunagha and Gbaran-toru to iron clothes and do other things.”

Seigha explained that the gas-powered communities get their sources from companies drilling oil there. He added that it is depressing because the state government has also not given them any end in sight as to when power will be restored in the state.

For Blessing Emuren, a fashion stylist, the blackout has been more difficult to deal with due to the unaffordable cost of fuel. She told FIJ that even the alternatives of fuel were unaffordable for most of the residents.

Emuren said she could hardly remember the last time her home received power from the grid as, even before the total blackout, only a few places in the state enjoyed the privilege of 50% power supply.

“I can hardly remember the last time there was power, maybe three months ago. Even before the blackout, only a few places enjoy the privilege of having at least 50% power supply,” she said.

“As a small business owner, I have been struggling due to the blackout, and the price of fuel isn’t helping as well. The alternatives to the blackout, which are fuel and solar power, are not affordable by most people.”

The fashion stylist said that while the state government said it was the responsibility of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) to provide power and that the blackout was being worked on, there was no hope in sight.

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Andris Alagba, another Bayelsa resident, said the prolonged outage has caused her some embarrassment and a lack of productivity. She said it also encouraged theft in the state as petty thieves took advantage of the public charging provided by betting shops.

“The power outage has been terrible for the most part, as some of my neighbours have had their phones stolen because they tried charging at a betting shop, I had my fair share of humiliation because of charging of appliances,” she said.

“Water is also a major problem, also I repeat the same set of clothes to work because they don’t require pressing, I have a lot of pending projects because there’s no way to power my laptop, it’s just a lot honestly.”

She explained that an alternative for her has been using stove iron to press her outfits and relying on other people’s solar inverter. She stated that even that is not reliable as it has been raining incessantly.

“I use stove iron to press my clothes, pay for charging and occasionally at a neighbour’s house or visiting a betting shop to charge. I have had to grope around in darkness or learn to use my phone’s flashlight as power source,” Alagba told FIJ.

“My landlord owns a solar-powered system but it’s always raining these days so even that isn’t always reliable so basically we’re just hoping. Hope is the coping mechanism.”

When FIJ called Kola Oredipe, Director of New Media to the Bayelsa State Government, on Friday, he said the responsibility of restoring power to the state was the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Federal Government’s.

He said the vandalised towers were the property of the federal government and even though the state government has contributed their investment into fixing it, the TCN was responsible for fixing it by November 6 as promised.

“I am sure you know that power is on the exclusive list, and the cause of the blackout is not from the state government. I hope you are aware it is due to the damage of vandalised towers in Rivers State,” Oredipe told FIJ.

“The tower belongs to the FG’s TCN. Power is not supplied by the Bayelsa State Government; it is from TCN through the PHED. So, we didn’t cause the vandalism of the tower. We have also been calling on the FG, the Ministry of Power, and TCN to take responsibility and fix the towers.

“A few days ago, TCN said that work is ongoing and that by November 6, power will be restored. Even when this happened, the Bayelsa State Government took it upon itself to intervene, and I know we have spent some money to fix the tower.

“It is just in the interest of the government to see that people don’t suffer and businesses don’t collapse, which is why he asked the Commissioner of Power and the MD of Electricity to intervene. We have done our part as the state government, and we have supported them in fixing the towers.  
 
“We now expect them to take it up, as TCN said that power will be restored by November 6. So, the blackout is beyond us as a state government.”

When FIJ asked about the specific intervention the state government was providing for residents of the state to cushion the effect of the blackout, Oredipe said that the government was planning to include power plant investments in the 2025 budget.

“Intervention in what terms? It affects everybody; do we provide them with fuel to pump their generators or communities? It affects everyone,” he said.
 
“I am sure you know what happened in the north; TCN and the Ministry of Power quickly fixed it. Why is it different in Bayelsa? I am not sure anyone expects Governor Duoye Diri to give money to every household to buy fuel for their generators or buy generators for them.

“What the government is planning is to invest in independent power plants so that we do not continue to rely on a power system that is not sustainable. In our next budget, we will go outright to invest in it. That is proactive government, as we will not rely on the FG to continue to supply us with electricity.”