For the past two days, traders in Iju-Ishaga and its environs, Lagos; Alagbole-Akute, and its environs in Ogun State, have been experiencing power outages. According to them, Ikeja Electric has failed to supply power to their stores, such that their businesses have been disrupted since Tuesday, March 8, 2022.
Sharing her ordeal since the power outage started, the operator of frozen foods, who identified herself as Kemi Arowolo, lamented to BizWatch Nigeria that she had since been running her business with a generator even though there’s a scarcity of fuel.
“We are having a hard time already because of petrol shortage, and you can imagine what it means when you don’t have the power to keep your refrigerator running for business purposes. It simply means that your goods would spoil, and you would record a significant loss. So, to avoid a situation like this is why I had to secure petrol by all means to at least avoid losses,” Arowolo
Corroborating Arowolo’s experience, Yusuf Babajide, who’s a barber, said he’s been serving his customers with the use of generator for the last two days, adding that he’s profit has declined ever since.
“I bought the petrol I’m using to power my generator for N230 per litre, and this has not changed the price I cut hairs for my customers. So, it’s just been a whole lot for me, and it can be very overwhelming to think you are doing business and not making profit. But at the same time, you don’t want to lose your customers which is more detrimental, all because of power supply,” he told our correspondent.
Confirming that Alagbole-Akute has in the last two days experienced a total blackout, a resident of the area, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said Ikeja Electric didn’t give reasons for lack of power supply.
The resident added, “We are all kept in the dark; we have no idea of what is going on. At least, we pay for the services they offer us, and it’s just right for them to provide us with explanations on why there has not been power supply in our area.”
