NEPA Na wa!: The story of an angry family man

The generator was on from 7.00pm to 4.00am. There was no sign from NEPA, not even a flash. The air was humid and the ceiling fan was blowing hot air. That was how bad the weather was. Hot! The man almost cursed out NEPA as he lay on his bed, restless and angry.
‘ What’s it with this country? All we hear are promises promises promises every new tenure. They say we should pray but people sef don tire to dey pray.’
His two children lay by his side quite oblivious to their father’s fuming. His wife had traveled to visit her mother. How can he even switch off the generator in this hot night? How will his children cope? His thoughts darted here and there.
‘Do you know how much money people burn on fuel for their generator? Most people can’t afford it but what will they do? Yet at the end of the month, NEPA( or is it PHCN?) brings an outrageous bill for payment. For doing what kwanu? How then does one get value for his money in this country?'
If he was right, and he was sure he was, he spends nothing less than #30,000 each month on generator fuel. The hard earned money that he would have used for something more profitable if NEPA was doing the job the masses pay them to do. A total waste of money in a country where light should be in constant supply.
'They used to be called NEPA, sounded more like National Epileptic Power Authority, but e be like say they wan rebrand themselves so they changed their name to PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) yet nothing had changed, just the name. But why Power Holding, why not Power Delivering? Are they not meant to ‘deliver’ the light instead of ‘holding’ it?
To even think of how many families over the years that have been wiped out because of lack of power supply. An entire family annihilated because they inhaled the dangerous carbon monoxide from the generator fumes. Who is to be blamed for this? The government? PHCN? The rich? How long will the masses suffer while the rich and influential feed off on their misfortunes. They garner everything to their benefit and the masses suffer. It’s a crazy situation with no predictable end.
A white man, possibly on his first visit to Nigeria, experienced blackout at the international airport. The poor guy panicked. He must have thought that there was an earth quake or that the world was coming to an end . But that was simply Nigeria saying welcome! So sure the white guy had never experienced blackout in his life except during hazards. It was so appalling. Another taint to our beloved Nigeria.'
The angry man sat up by the side of his bed and looked out through the window into the bleak darkness outside partially illuminated by the white security light in the frontage and mused,
“Lord , for how long? How long will people keep suffering? When will these blackouts end?”
Right now, all he wanted to do was to relocate to a greener pasture abroad. UK or USA maybe, he wasn’t sure. He was angry for his children’s comfort, angry that people are burning their hard earned money on fuel, angry that PHCN monthly intimidates them with exorbitant bills strung from useless meters, angry that the government weren’t doing anything about it. Incredulous! He checked his time piece. It was time to switch off the generator.
‘Make the gen rest abeg.’ He’ll just fan the children while they slept for the rest of the night.
49mins later after the generator went off, light came. It was 4.49am. Though he was relieved but he couldn’t help but wonder how long the light will last before they relapsed again to another bout of blackout. How does the country intend to improve on productivity when one cannot have a decent sleep in the night only to wake up the next morning feeling like someone that had run a marathon? How can he give his best?

All I can say is God save Nigeria.