Power problems: Could solar solve Nigeria’s electricity woes?
Al Jazeera
Hungry for energy, millions of Nigerians put up with noisy, smoky petrol-fuelled generators to power their lives.
Ilorin, Nigeria – On a recent Monday morning, Mathew Bello, popularly known as Matey, switched on the generator that powers his shop in the capital of Kwara State at exactly 9:28am. It sputtered for a second before roaring to life, coughing up clouds of grey smoke in the process.
Inside Bello’s multipurpose shop are places to watch television, play video games, get a haircut and fix a mobile phone. As David, Bello’s apprentice, transferred the shop’s fuse box from the utility grid — which was currently experiencing a blackout — over to the generator, the TVs lit up and hair clippers buzzed to life.
Bello set up the DSTV and PlayStation consoles and potential customers jostled for spots to charge their phones. The whine from the generator fluctuated as it balanced customers’ hunger for energy with the limits of its output.
