FEATURE: Frustrations as poor power supply takes toll on students’ economy, academic output

The poor and epileptic supply of electricity supply in the country has continued to hamper socio economic development in the country. Successive administrations have continued to mouth promises that the situation would improve, but despite the huge resources which have been spent on improving the sector, not much change has happened.

Students of Olabisi Onabanjo University have also had their fair share of frustrations arising from the poor supply of electricity in the country. Some of them living in areas of Ago-iwoye, namely Ijesha road and Ajegunle area, have expressed frustration over lack of constant electricity supply for a long time now.

Ajayi, a 300 level student of Mass Communication in the institution, who lives around Ajegunle, an area just after the school gate, said “we don’t even have a transformer here, talk more of having constant power supply. Landlords in the community have come together in the past to get a new one but still all efforts have not yielded the desired result”.

A threat to students academic performance

According to a study, the lack of constant supply of electricity poses a difficulty to students since it reduces productivity and has an impact on academic achievement.

For Daniel, “We can’t read well at night, we struggle to charge our phones and devices to stay updated on academic activities. And this has a tendency to affect our performance. Once, all my devices were dead. It was a few days before exams and I wanted to read. I could not read because most of my lecture notes were on my laptop and phone. To make matters worse, I was very sick and unable to visit the school’s library to charge and read. Throughout the day, It was difficult to be productive. My parents wanted to call to check up on me but they couldn’t reach me. I later had to pay at a charging centre to charge my phone. All these are how we suffer from the lack of constant power supply in a school area.”

Daniel is not the only student with a similar complaint. Another student, Orebajo Eniola, a 400 level student of Public Administration residing in the Okenugbo axis of Ago-Iwoye said, “there has been a time when we don’t have light for a whole semester, students living in my hostel had to opt for alternatives like generator. But some of us can’t afford generators and had no other choice but to sleep and read in darkness.”

A 300-level student, Hannah Ogunnusi also lamented. She stated that a lot of opportunities have been lost by students due to unreliable power supply which lessens academic performance. “I had a power outage right before my assignment deadline, and my phone was dead without any way to charge it. It was a terrible experience because I couldn’t do any research and ended up losing 20 marks.”

A threat to students academic performance

According to a study, the lack of constant supply of electricity poses a difficulty to students since it reduces productivity and has an impact on academic achievement.

For Daniel, “We can’t read well at night, we struggle to charge our phones and devices to stay updated on academic activities. And this has a tendency to affect our performance. Once, all my devices were dead. It was a few days before exams and I wanted to read. I could not read because most of my lecture notes were on my laptop and phone. To make matters worse, I was very sick and unable to visit the school’s library to charge and read. Throughout the day, It was difficult to be productive. My parents wanted to call to check up on me but they couldn’t reach me. I later had to pay at a charging centre to charge my phone. All these are how we suffer from the lack of constant power supply in a school area.”

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Daniel is not the only student with a similar complaint. Another student, Orebajo Eniola, a 400 level student of Public Administration residing in the Okenugbo axis of Ago-Iwoye said, “there has been a time when we don’t have light for a whole semester, students living in my hostel had to opt for alternatives like generator. But some of us can’t afford generators and had no other choice but to sleep and read in darkness.”

A 300-level student, Hannah Ogunnusi also lamented. She stated that a lot of opportunities have been lost by students due to unreliable power supply which lessens academic performance. “I had a power outage right before my assignment deadline, and my phone was dead without any way to charge it. It was a terrible experience because I couldn’t do any research and ended up losing 20 marks.”

Hike in Fuel Price

A lot of students affected by the inconsistent supply of electricity, and who are able to afford generators, have in the past opted for generators but since President Bola Tinubu announced fuel subsidy removal on May 29th 2023 which has resulted in a hike in the price of fuel. Using generators as an alternative has made things more difficult for these affected students.

“I was left with no other choice than to accept fate since there’s not even a transformer for the whole community. I bought a rechargeable torchlight when I resumed. I also go to the school library frequently to charge. Last semester, my friends and I contributed money to buy fuel so we could read at night. But since the subsidy removal, we’ve not been able to continue,” Daniel told me.

Onifade Ayomide, Ago-Iwoye resident in Ijesha road also shared that he spends a lot of time rewriting the Pdfs on his phone which because of electricity can’t make him read effectively. “I spend extra money on transport to school so I won’t miss online tests. I had to adjust my reading habit to the time when the generator will be on, which is not very convenient and effective.”

Threats to Students Businesses

Apart from the effects on academic performance, students who run businesses to support themselves in school are frustrated as the lack of reliable power supply affects their businesses.

Nofisat Adebiyi, who doubles as a student and Cake and Confectionery Baker in the Itamerin area of Ago-Iwoye narrated her plight with poor electricity.

She shared that with the current state of petrol price in the country, sustaining entrepreneurship and maintaining academic excellence was challenging.

“My baking business heavily depends on electricity, my tools are electrical, like my mixer and chiller, both can’t work without power supply which means I have to wait till there is light before I can make use of my mixers and this of course would definitely delay my customers order. I serve perishable products that need to be preserved in the chiller which won’t work without power. As a student, I can’t leave the generator on and attend classes. This could lead to spoilage of products and decrease in profit.”

In addition to the negative impact on Daniel’s academics, the lack of electricity also affects his graphics design business.

“My previous system has battery issues. It won’t work if it is not plugged in. I had to sit in front of my neighbours room who had a generator to work. That was a big creative block for me. I wasn’t comfortable at all but I had to get the work done. The school library was also a great help for me. I would go there to use my system and get the job done,” he said.

The Way forward

A World Bank report shows that 85 million Nigerians don’t have access to grid electricity which represents 43 percent of the country’s population and makes Nigeria the country with the largest energy access deficit in the world.

On Daniel’s part, he feels “the intervention of the government and institutions in providing electricity to student areas is very important since academic excellence cannot be achieved without adequate infrastructure such as power supply.”

Adetunla Lydia who also lives in Ajegunle suggests that the government should support the institutions and provide transformers that will help spread the electricity connection and make light accessible to the students.

“The government should find a way to regulate the Distribution Companies and reduce the instability of electricity tariff on customers. That way, there’ll be relief among customers across the country.” Orebajo Eniola said.

For Nofisat, “I believe addressing the issue of unreliable electricity for students and small business owners like us requires a multi-faceted approach. Investing in renewable energy sources, improving infrastructure, promoting energy efficiency, and providing support for alternative power solutions like solar panels or generators will go a long way as well. Additionally, government and private sector collaboration can help create policies and initiatives that prioritise stable electricity supply.”

As students persist in expressing their distress and complaints, they earnestly anticipate a preference for solutions to alleviate the electricity crisis.

By Abdullah Salaudeen

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