Following a week-long power outage that has left the region completely dark, business operations have come to a standstill in Taraba State and portions of the Northeast.
In addition to disrupting daily life, the blackout has immobilized small enterprises, especially those that significantly rely on electricity. It also affects Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
The Yola Electricity Distribution Company, or YEDC, claims that the outage is the result of continuous maintenance being done on a vital piece of the electricity infrastructure.
According to our reporter, the current outage is a recurrence of the event from last year, when vandals damaged transmission cables, leaving the same states without power for weeks.
The DAILY POST found that many small business owners are finding it difficult to handle the situation after visiting the impacted areas.
Welders, hairdressers, tailors, and other craftspeople are among the most severely impacted in Taraba State’s capital, Jalingo.
Mr. Ademola, one of the impacted company owners, bemoaned the effect on his income.
“As I’m talking to you now, I have not been able to attend to any of my customers for the past one week due to the failure of YEDC to restore power,” he said.
Similarly, Mrs Talatu, a hairdresser in Jalingo, expressed frustration over losing customers to competitors with standby generators.
“All hands are not equal. For people like me who cannot afford a generator, our business has been crippled. We are praying for YEDC to restore power so we can return to work and provide for our families,” she said.
Residents said that the extended blackout has caused difficulty for both households and business owners, and they chastised YEDC for failing to deliver on its earlier pledge to restore energy within three days.
There is currently no set timeline for power restoration in all impacted states as of the time this report was filed.
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