Power Outage Grounds Businesses In Kaduna

The continued power outage in Kaduna metropolis and its environs has grounded businesses as residents count losses.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed the outage, saying Tower 7 along the Kaduna Town lines I and II in the Rigasa community collapsed due to a heavy downpour and windstorm.

TCN said its men were working tirelessly to restore the power supply to some affected parts of Kaduna city.

However, speaking with some of the Kaduna business owners and residents, they lamented that many residents and business owners were suffering due to the power outage.

A fish depot owner at Television Market, Gambo Henry, explained how the power outage has crippled his business, “I stocked ice fish in large quantities, but half of it spoiled as no light to power my refrigerators. I don’t have big generator to power the deep freezers. It is unfortunate and sad story. I lost more than half of my capital. Transmission Company should work hard to restore light.”

Another business owner, Emeka Chima, who operates a laundry shop in Sabon Tasha, lamented, “For almost one week now, there is no light across Kaduna town. I collected a lot of work from my customers but no way for me to iron it and give back to them. There is no way I can operate this laundry business very well without light. I have been like this without work to do because of light issue.”

Anthony Samuel, who charges phones for his customers, said he made almost N10,000 per day. “I am using my generator to charge people’s phones as Kaduna doesn’t have light now. Over hundred people charge their phones in my shop almost every day. I’m making a lot of money, like N10,000 per day,” he said.

Also, residents of Ungwa Maigero and Narayi communities in Chikun local government area have expressed frustration over the continued power outage in the area.

A fish seller in Narayi, who identified herself as Ene Faith, lamented the situation, saying she lost over five cartons of fish due to the blackout.

Similarly, Mrs. Bukola Victoria told LEADERSHIP that for more than six days some residents have been unable to pump water.

“We have not pumped water for over six days. We don’t have a generator, and even if we have, there is no money to buy fuel. We depend on neighbours who sometimes use generators to pump water”.

Also speaking, Mr. Yunusa Abubakar, a welder at Sabo, decried the outage, noting that he had been unable to work for the past five days, resulting in a loss of income.