ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Many business owners in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have continued to count their losses following the incessant grid collapses.
The business owners who operate in Lugbe, Nyanya, Garki and Galadimawa spoke in Abuja on Sunday.
Reports that following the incessant grid collapses, the country has experienced several power outages.
Recalls that the grid had collapsed on Oct. 14 and power was only restored on Oct. 15 and another collapse also occurred Oct. 19 making it the second within a week and the seventh in 2024.
Also on Oct 21, the Northern part of the country was plunged into darkness when the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) lines trippef-off due to a fault.
Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs had in a statement said the tripping-off of the lines caused power outages affecting North East, North West and parts of the North Central.
Mrs Comfort Maduka, a cold room owner in Lugbe said that she had lost a lot of money due to the power outages which had become a reoccurring issue.
Maduka said that she depended on power to run her business because they were perishable goods, adding that each time there was no power supply, most of them go bad.
She said that government should do something urgently about the poor power supply to avoid pains on Nigerians who were already battling with the harsh economic situation.
Mr Anthony Okosun, who runs a business centre in Lugbe, said that due to the frequent grid collapses and power outages, he now operates his machines on generator.
Okosun said because of the high cost of fuel, he now charges his customers higher and a lot of them go away without doing the job, adding this was big loss to me.
“I am currently on Band A and I pay a lot on electricity, yet there is no constant power supply and buying fuel to power the generator is also a problem because of the high cost.
“Government should overhaul the power sector to enable them do the right thing, ‘’ he said.
Mr Adamu Aliyu, a barber operating in Nyanya state that he was just managing to survive on the job so that he can feed his family.
According to him, the constant power failure had impacted on his business so much as he does not have money to buy a generator.
“I am just managing this job to fend for my family, I don’t have money for generator so I am appealing to those in charge of power supply to do all it can to make it more regular, ‘’he said.
Mr Sule Gambo, a fashion designer at Garki Market said that the unsteady power supply was affecting his business and this makes him not to be able to meet up with his customers’ demands.
Gambo said that due to the frequent outages, he had lost a lot of his customers as he could not deliver their clothes on time.
”I am appealing to government to find a lasting solution to the problem of power supply, ” he said.
Also speaking on the issue, Mrs Gloria Ekele, a hair stylist at Galadimawa appealed to government to look into the issue of the incessant power outages and resolve them.
Ekele said that the outages were affecting her business negatively compared to when there was constant power supply. (NAN)
