OpenLife Weekly Business Survey: Small Operators Speak On Experience
OpenLife weekly survey, this week takes holistic review on the state of power in Nigeria and the effect it has on businesses.
In a poll opinion conducted by Adenike Ayankunle Mary , many small and medium business operators, within Alimosho local government area of Lagos, expressed their concerns about the effect of power on their businesses.
Technically, the effect of power supply in Nigeria has great impact on small and medium scale owners and it has made it extremely hard to run their businesses.
No doubt, the widespread of power blackout has been identified as partly the reasons companies, businesses and industries have become heavily reliant on self – generated power.
That is why some Nigerians have resorted to not paying their electricity bills when due. This is because of low result of power supply.
As a measure of reducing losses, most Nigerians now depend on using the self – generated power like generator, solar energy and the likes.
However, the use of self generated energy to power their businesses also comes with heavy cost of fuelling.
At the moment Nigerians are grumbling really hard at the high price of diesel and petrol.
They are therefore calling on the government to reduce the price of crude oil. Some are even suggesting that the government should build refinery in Nigeria or repair the damaged ones so that importation of refined crude oil from other countries, since the country’s refineries are not functioning, can be eliminated.
Below are some Nigerians expressing their discomfort and the havoc power instability has done to their business.
Mr. Akintade
I am a fashion designer. The issue of power has been progressing. Lately and unlike before, we hardly see power to complete our work. At times, maybe when we are done with stitching a piece of clothe together and it remains the ironing, there will be a sudden power cut.
That could be very frustrating because we may have promised our customers that by evening the work would be ready and due to power outage the work would be delayed.
This has caused us to lose a lot of our customers because they won’t take the excuse that it was power cut that delayed the work.
Miss Hamzat
I sell frozen foods. I have lost so much due to power outage. One could hardly make a sale in a day in the first place because of power outage.
At times, I could loose about two cartons out of my stock. How much is one gaining to now add the losses to it?
It was when I couldn’t bear it anymore that I had to borrow money from one of my friends to buy generator to power my refrigerators. It was after then that I started seeing changes in my business.
Miss Damilola
I sell soft drinks and ice block. I can’t even remember the last time they powered the light. It is very rear here. There is no electricity to power the freezers. And people wont buy drinks from you if they are not cold. Those who are organizing events will need ice block to ice their drinks. How would that be possible when the power to do so is not available?
I have to depend on my generator to power my freezers else nobody will would come to my shop and I can’t consume them all by myself. So am begging the government to do something about the issue of power.
Mr. Awosile
I sell home appliances. So far the power is a bit stable.
At least, there is always electricity for me to test any appliance whenever customers want to buy. It has been okay here and fair. The power can be available till maybe like closing hour.
Mrs Akinyele
I sell ice block. The way this government is treating us is not fair at all. And the issue of power is not even helping business. Ice block is water and if the power is not constant it will turn back to water.
We have begged and pleaded many times but our pleas are falling on deaf ears.
Even though I use generator, I switch off after closing and when there is no electricity, the blocks dissolve back to ordinary water before the next day.
Assuming the power is constant as backup, this won’t be happening.
Mr Oyemade
I am an iron fabricator. The power is near average, but at times maybe when you want to do an urgent job the power won’t be available that’s when we use generator.
But the danger there is that the power might go off during an urgent job and we have to resort to generator.
But again, the high cost of diesel to power the generator is telling badly on the profit margin on each job.
And that is not helping us. So, we call on government to stabilize electricity supply.
Mrs. Olusoji
I am a worker. But I can tell you that I am not happy with the level of electricity supply to my home and neighbourhood.
This is essentially because after each stressful day at work, I am expected to get home and feel comfortable as well as sleep with fan or air conditioner. I can’t sleep without breeze
The worst part is that the power will be off when the sleep is about to settle and that could be very annoying.
So, at times, after returning from work, I put on the generator and that is extra cost on my income. Government must do something urgently.
Mrs. Ileyemi
I am a fashion designer. I can say that the power is better and it is becoming stable. As for the effect, it doesn’t have much effect in this area. It is better than some places. Maybe a little improvement would do.
Mr. Oguntade
I am a worker. So far, it’s been good and they have been applying accuracy to the issue of power. I can say they are doing a good job.
Miss. Okeleye
I sell provisions and soft drinks. The power is not enough for the drinks. The drinks are not chilled enough for people’s taste. That’s why I don’t sell much of drinks. It is only those who don’t like cold things that always stop here to buy.
However, there are soft drinks that need to be chilled before drinking. I no longer sell them because of power outage and at times even if the power is available the voltage will be too low to carry anything.
So, as a small business owner, I am calling on government to improve on electricity.
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