Survey of Electric Power Supply Outage in Minna Metropolis

Abstract

Nigerians have been both physically and psychologically inflicted by incessant electric power supply interruptions in the country. This situation has several negative effects ranging from economic setback, loss of several man-hour, poor productivity, high average cost of production, impoverishment of individuals, physical discomfort, poor health etc, all of which come together to dampen average individual’s morale, and retards his pursuit of civilization. This paper surveyed the power outage rate in Minna metropolis as a case study to gain an insight into the efficiency of electric power supply system in Nigeria. It was found that an average Nigerian suffers 386 times more power interruptions per annum than an average Canadian; and that the average power interruption duration suffered by an average Nigerian is over 392 times longer than that suffered by an average Canadian. The reason for this poor condition is attributable to poor maintenance, and lack of adequate upgrading of the system components. As a result, supply is much lower than demand; the dilapidate systems constantly fails.