If you had asked me some years ago about how power supply was in Aba, I would’ve just sighed and said, “my brother, forget light.” Honestly, it was that bad. There were times we’d go weeks—weeks o—without even blinking light. You’d be charging your phone from neighbour to neighbour, running generator like it's your main power source, and at some point, you just accept that darkness has become normal. Everybody just dey manage.
But something has changed recently. I won’t lie, these past few years—especially under this new administration—things have started looking up small. Light now comes more regularly. It's not every day, but compared to how it used to be, e don better. Back then, when NEPA brought light, people would shout like it was Christmas. Now, sometimes, they bring it and you won’t even notice immediately because you’re kind of used to it. That says something.
In Aba here, it’s clearer that there's been some improvement. You see more people using electric irons and freezers more often now. Before, you'd fear to plug anything because you didn’t even know when next you’d see light. These days, you can plan things better. Tailors, barbers, and welders—people who rely heavily on electricity—can now actually do business without always worrying about buying fuel every single day.
But you see that bill matter? That one still no get head.
How can it be that we’re getting more light, yet the bills are looking like we’re running nightclub speakers and factory machines? It doesn’t add up at all. There are people in Aba who don’t even get that much light, yet they receive bills that will make your chest tight. Sometimes it feels like the more you try to manage electricity, the more they punish you with these outrageous charges.
To make matters worse, most houses still use estimated billing. No prepaid meter. So you just wake up one day, and boom—you see a bill that has no connection with reality. Whether you had light or not, they just slap something on your door or gate. That thing dey pain pass power outage sometimes.
So what can be done to make all of this better?
For starters, they really need to fix the billing system. Give people prepaid meters, and let everyone pay for what they actually use. It’s not rocket science. That one change alone will reduce a lot of the complaints.
Also, this is Aba—we get mad sun here. Why are we not seeing more solar energy systems being used? If solar panels and inverters were more affordable or if there were payment plans that regular people could tap into, a lot of us would have steady power without even looking NEPA’s way. Imagine being able to power your fan, bulbs, TV, and even your freezer without worrying about when light will come or how much the next bill will be.
Another thing is our infrastructure. Transformers still dey blow up. Some areas go dey beg for ordinary cable to be fixed. And the annoying part is that communities end up contributing money to fix government property. People in Aba can relate—how many times have we taxed ourselves to buy poles, wires, or fix transformers? Na we dey do government work for them. That’s not how it should be.
Honestly, even though things have improved, we're still far from where we need to be. It's good that power is more regular now, and I’ll give them their flowers for that. But electricity should not feel like a luxury. It should be a normal part of everyday life, especially in a city like Aba where there’s so much hustle and small businesses everywhere.
We’ve suffered the “no light” phase for too long, and we’re grateful that it’s getting better. But now, it’s time to make the light make sense. Give people fair bills, make alternative energy more reachable, fix broken infrastructure, and just let Nigerians breathe small. We’re not asking for too much—just give us light that we can actually afford and rely on.
Because at the end of the day, what’s the use of having steady light if you’re too scared to check your electricity bill?