Being in darkness for four days.
“Inspiration is one thing and you can’t control it, but hard work is what keeps the ship moving. Keep up the good work.”
Later today will make it five days since electricity refused to show up and since then, I have been alternating myself just to be online, and some other times, I will spare my phone so it doesn't go off anytime soon. Someone like me needs to be online to engage and attend to other things and this is why there is no need for someone who only uses his or her phone to make and receive calls to be compared to someone like a blogger and writer like me.
Since Friday afternoon we had light last and we thought they would fix it at least after the next day but here we are, trying to cope with ourselves. This is why I had to plan for myself getting two power banks that would last me but right now, I have no other choice than to find somewhere to charge.
Two days ago, I overheard a lady saying she went to charge her phone with a little cent and then, I was still having some battery on my power banks. One was almost getting low but it took me the whole day until yesterday, there was no choice for me but to use money to charge too. I gave one of my power banks to a friend who was going for lectures with the plan to collect it later in the evening.
Each power bank takes over eight hours to get fully charged and when I use them, they both last for me. Even my torchlight was so dim last night and I can't waste money charging it. I only gave it to someone to charge at the church. It only charged for an hour and I was able to see clearly and still better than being in darkness.
Using a torchlight can't be compared to seeing the full light bulb in your room, circulating everywhere and giving you the inspiration you need. A student was shocked to see she has two assignments to be submitted by 10 am today and she could have started attending to them if there was light. Her torchlight can't even see anything at all, even her phone wasn't charged too. She had to sleep like that, hoping to do those assignments very early this morning while it's bright.
Without electricity, my mood tends to change and I will start frowning my face. I am not always in the mood when there is no light but once they bring it, you see how excited I am to start some things I have left pending. Though that doesn't take away the positive vibe in me. When you see your phone going low and your power banks aren't charged, you won't even be able to use the phone to check what is going on in the world.
Here we are again today, hoping light comes. I heard there was light in other areas yesterday but they didn't give our area. This is something that pains me more. Seeing other people having light while we do not have. We are all sharing the same transformer (electric pole) but it seems my street enjoys darkness more than light😂😂😂
When others are excited about seeing light, we would be inside in darkness, feeling bad and the landlords around do not care to call up a meeting to know what is wrong. Whenever they bring light, we would be happy and that is what I have always endured for the past 3 years. Thank God I only have limited time to spend here and I might decide to travel anytime soon since I am no longer a student now.
I love areas with constant and stable electricity. Even if they take it, it shouldn't be long before bringing it back. I love it when all my gadgets are fully charged as I would have more time to spend online. It's such a pity this is how things are in my country. I know other countries experience lack of electricity but I can only say more about my own country. It sucks!
How I wish I can stay more active today but I will try. I have charged one of the power banks and it has 3 bars out of 4 while the second one has been taken to the charging center. I don't want to keep spending money daily to charge but as it is now, I don't have a choice 🥺
Thanks for your time
Images by Pavel from Pexels
Almost all Nigerians have experienced what you are going through. For some months now the light situation in my area has improved, 12 hours of light a day.