Residents in some parts of Kano Metropolis heaved a sigh of relief after the restoration of electricity supply at about 9pm on Wednesday after about three weeks of total power outage.

However, Arewa PUNCH investigations revealed that many parts of the state were yet to see light, given that only 40 megawatts were given to KEDCO for distribution to its franchise states – Kano Katsina and Jigawa – pending when the repair works will be completed. .

Our correspondent reports that while electricity has been restored in some parts of the state, the prolonged power outage in the affected northern part of the country has completely destroyed the lives of many artisans, including electrical appliance repairers and refrigerator repairers.

The situation has also paralyzed socio-economic activities in Kano as residents faced several life challenges ranging from inadequate water supply and the rising cost of food and other services.

The power outage that started about three weeks ago forced many residents of the city to resort to using sachet water for daily use as water supply from the state water board was not regular following the ongoing power outage.

The high cost of sachet or table water may not be solely related to the power outage, as many manufacturers of the product have also closed their factories due to the outage.

The power outage, coupled with the high cost of diesel and fuel, has made life unbearable for many residents, especially the less fortunate who comprise the majority of those worst affected.

As a result of the situation, water vendors have also increased their prices by about 200 percent as a 25 liter jerry can that used to sell at N50 now goes for between N150 and N200 due to the lack of electricity supply.

One of the water sellers, Musa Mairuwa, told our reporter that he used to pay N100 to fill his 20 jerry cans from the commercial borehole owners but now he has to pay N500 to fill the same number of jerry cans.

“Before the power outage, I paid a little from the borehole owners to fill my ten jerry cans, but now because of the power outage, they have to buy diesel and fuel to power their generators, which is expensive,” said Mairuwa.

Similarly, the prices of sachet water, also known as table water, have increased depending on the quality of the product.

For example, the price of iceberg, one of the best table waters in Kano, shot up from N300 for (a bag of 20 pieces) to N600, while the prices of the regular were sold for N300 instead of N150.

As long as the power outage lasted, many small-scale industries collapsed, while the few that managed to continue functioning did so at very high costs due to the prolonged power outage and the high cost of petroleum products.

Most small business owners went bankrupt within the time the total blackout lasted.

Others affected included tailors, hairdressers, grinding machine operators, business center operators and welders.

The situation also affected schools, especially higher institutions and hospitals, where power supply is very essential. Many patients in hospitals are said to have lost their lives during the three-week power outage.

“Most of these small business owners had to stop using generators due to the high cost of diesel. So with the current power situation, we have no alternative but to continue waiting for the power to be restored,” a welder complained to Arewa PUNCH on Wednesday.

Abdulrashid Magaji, chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria in Kano, also said the power outage had severely affected processing industries, especially rice mills.

He lamented the fact that most such processing plants had to be shut down while power supply was disrupted as they could not run on diesel fuel due to the rising cost of the product.

He attributed the rising cost of rice and other essential commodities to the current power outage in the country, stressing that most manufacturing industries were either operating at skeleton levels or completely closed.

“Many processing plants only work when there is power. How did you expect them to work now if there was a total power outage?’ he wondered.

He maintained that the current situation needs urgent and serious intervention from both the State and Federal Government if the economy is to be saved, even as he commended President Tinubu for directing the Minister of Energy to ensure that electricity supply in the affected states in the north are being restored. suffered from a blackout.

Arewa PUNCH recalls that President Bola Tinubu on Monday directed the Minister of Energy, Adebayo Adelabu, and other relevant agencies to increase the pace of work to restore electricity to all affected states in the North.

Tinubu gave the directive during a meeting with Adelabu, who briefed him on the efforts of the Transmission Company of Nigeria to repair the damaged Shiroro-Kaduna transmission lines at the Aso Rock Villa.

Tinubu also warned that the Federal Government will no longer tolerate deliberate sabotage and destruction of public facilities.

Meanwhile, few energy observers have praised the federal government for making good on its promise Tuesday to accelerate efforts to restore power to the northern part of the country after widespread power outages.

The Minister of Energy, Adebayo Adelabu, had promised members of the National Assembly that total power would return to the region within 14 days, implying that the 17 affected states will be without electricity by Tuesday, November 12, 2024.