Hello steemians,
Greetings and salutations, the time is currently 2:04am and yet again, im sitting in darkness, with a phone thays barely charged.
The issue started 6 weeks ago, yes you read that right 6 FREAKING WEEKS ago.
The power line designated to bring electricity to the area in which I and my family lived was faulty and was supposed to be repaired, one thing led to another and before we knew it, the transformer got burnt or something.
Funds were gathered, meetings were held, and soon a new transformer was on its way down to the town.
I wouldn't say new, cause they carried an old piece of Junk that had been worked on, and the remaining cash siphoned into their pockets.
Its a small town I live in unfortunately so little acts of corruption go unnoticed, the police and law officers being too busy woth all the issues small towns have.
One thing led to another, we heard that the transformer was returning the electricity back to the grid or something like that and the whole line, basically our own quarter of the town, had to be removed off the grid.
All that was 6 weeks ago, if not that we as nigerians are used to providing electricity for ourselves via a generator set, I would have no light, no power, and probably have been forgotten by steemit.
I rant because im tired, I tried to rally my neighbors that we go solar, but they are all afraid of the front cost, the capital needed.
I made calculations and my house alone, spends around 10,000 naira per week on fuel and oil, multiple by 6 weeks, thats 60,000 nairs gone.
At least 57 houses have been affected by this electricity shortage, and assuming an average of 10,000 per week, we get 3.4m naira($10,000) spent in the last 6 weeks on petroleum and mechanical oil.
At some point, the cost of continuing this way is going to surpass what would have been used for solar installation.
Its actually Enough money to actually repair the fault in the first place, or better yet, money that could be used to provide facilities for a solar farm, plus government intervention to bring about a stable solar farm.
My region receives a lot of sunshine as well as the necessary conditions for solar energy to be efficient.
No one wants to pay the costs at once
Thats the problem with africans and infact most people.
We are comfortable spending huge sums over a period of time, but paying it all at once becomes a problem.
I started cultivating the habit of never letting money stay too long in my hand.
I have a plan, a project, once I get enough cash, I execute.
Its no surprise that in a country as troubled as nigeria, the government cannot provide it all, and as annoying as it may seem, we as a nation need to provide and do certain things by ourselves.
The idea of a solar farm has long sonce been with me, yet implementing it is tough.
Wind turbines could also be erected in the hills of the town, as well as small scale water generation for one or two houses.
Innovative thinking is what wins out at the end of the day.
A town can only go so far as it's people zeal to want to move forward, that is what Im working towards now.
Hopefully the town I grew up in would look inward and accept these changes I present, instead of focusing on the government 24/7
I love this article for two reasons.
Truth be told, this irritates me in Nigeria and it happens in every community. Just imagine the Telecommunication companies say MTN or GLO or Etisalat asking you to come and contribute money so that they can replace or repair their mast.
Secondly, solar electricity is certainly the way to go. We have been using it for about 4 years and counting without incuring any maintenance cost. Oftentimes when we remember the days of fuel, diesel and oil, not to mention the maintenance cost of the generators we become thankful to the Almight for the beautiful invention.
Don't look at the initial cost, try to get it installed and you will be thankful everyday that you did.