Lagos — THE current poor electricity supply situation across the country is now a source of great concern to Nigerians as incessant power outage have enveloped the entire nation.

From the South to the North, East to West, the power situation is getting worse as many parts of the country have been thrown into perpetual darkness, some-times, lasting several months.

This situation has, no doubt, caused untold hardship to most citizens, who rely on electricity to get their daily bread and keep life running smoothly generally.

The on-going enquiry by the House of Representatives has opened lots of suspected cankerworms. But many Nigerians are not optimistic on the outcome of the probe which is already generating mixed feelings across the country.

One year after the take off of President Umaru Yar'Adua's government, it is the belief of many that there is no obvious solution in sight yet.

Busola Animashaun went to town to speak with respondents who shared their experiences of how the power outage in the country is affecting them, either in their businesses or private lives. As we celebrate the first year of this government, The Human Angle brings you an expose of the ordinary Nigerian and the problems arising from the power outage. It's ironic, interesting and humourous. Happy reading.

Yewande, (33), housewife and mother of two boys, says she cannot store up food:

The irony of things is that everyone believes the housewife's life is very easy, she can manage her time and do some other works from the comfort of her home. But the truth is that she is, perhaps, suffering more than the working class woman at this present time.

For me, I think things were better when I was still running my fashion shop. I could go out to cool off, talk with friends and see what is happening generally in town. But all that is gone. Before you can do anything, you have to plan seriously for it.

My own case is a peculiar one. It is not that we cannot afford it, but my husband just won't buy us a generator. He says he cannot stand the noise. He cannot sleep comfortably and peacefully, knowing that there is something in his house that can burst into flames at any time.

He says he does not have the power to be pulling the generator at odd hours of the day. He insists that once we get used to it, we will not be able to live without electricity and that no one can survive in Nigeria with such notions. He also says the cost of maintenance will tear a hole in his pocket. So what can I do?

I even offered to buy myself one for my birthday last year, thinking that if I took the initial cost off his neck, he would pipe down. But he would not hear of it. A relative of mine came to visit us one day and after spending two hours without electricity and discovering we did not have an alternative, he offered to buy us one. But still, I had to turn it down because I know my husband will not accept it.

You will think we are the only occupants of our compound. But that is far from the truth. Like most young couples, we are still living in a rented apartment of four flats. The occupants of the other three flats use generators, sometimes all through the night.

The noise from these three generators combined makes unbearable noise, such that most times, I cannot go to sleep without using a sleeping pill. I will wake up with a bad migraine if I try to go to sleep without it. Yet, sleep will still not come easily because of the heat and mosquitos that will be feasting on us at the same time.

My younger son's skin is now almost like that of an orange peel, rough with heat rashes. He walks around the house naked and only when there is a visitor will I force him to wear a pant or knickers. Once the guest steps out, he yanks it off because he is a bit on the plump side. He is already growing up without a sense of shame about his nakedness. In my house, everyone, except the maid, goes topless.

Socially, I cannot catch up with current issues around the country, not to talk of the world. I have lost track of television programing and many other things. Apart from my car radio and a small transistor radio I keep in my kitchen, there is no other source of information for me at home. But my husband wakes up in the morning, is out of the house by 6.30-700am and does not return till around 10pm most days of the week, so he does not really experience what I do sitting at home all day.

Everyone knows that without electricity, feeding the family is not an easy task. I have to cook stew every other day. You know that once you cook a pot of stew and you have to start warming it morning and night, by the time you do it a third day, the taste is gone. It starts to taste funny and you will not enjoy eating it anymore. The alternative is to cook small portions of food, such that you can finish in a day or two.

And that is not only hard work, it is a lot of money. I am not able to plan how to spend the little feeding allowance I receive. This sort of life style is for the rich, not for people like me who are just managing to live above poverty line.

I think government must find a solution to this problem before we start to drop dead one after another. But I know that even then, they may not be bothered as long as their own family members are free from the plague. They may even say that it was recommended by the World Bank for economic measures.

That is the type of leadership we have in this country. Who is Yar'Adua in this problem we are talking about? A man that could do next to nothing with all the he spent as governor will now perform wonders in one year? I beg, I did not know that this is where all this questioning is leading to. I am not expecting anything from him. Ok, not much.

Sandra, (44), a hairdresser, business has been grounded:

I'm a mother of three children, my husband is a furniture maker. We both have different shops and our source of livelihood depends heavily on electricity. Things have not been easy for us at all, especially in the last two years.

At the home front, all our electronics have become decorations, they hardly work. I cannot remember the last time I got home to see the television on. Usually, when-ever we have electricity, it is in the middle of the night, around 2.00am, and who is going to wake up because of television at that time.

The same goes for music.

My husband loves listening to music a lot. In the past, he used to be the major supplier of music to people in our compound. The oldies is our favourite, from Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Ade to Fela.