Students of the University of Maiduguri and other residents of the Mairi Kuwait community in the Maiduguri metropolis, Borno State are currently lamenting the power outage being witnessed in the area.
gathered on Wednesday that the lingering outage is also affecting the water supply, therefore compounding the students’ woes.
Students are already raising concerns over the possible negative effect of the situation on their performance in their forthcoming examinations.
Our correspondent learnt that while the Mairi Kuwait community where the school is located has been witnessing power outage for over two months, the blackout on the campus itself had lingered for more than three weeks.
A student in the Department of Mass Communication, who identified herself simply as Esther, told our correspondent on the telephone on Wednesday that helpless students have been spending about N500 daily to charge their phones and other gadgets.
Esther said, “For the students staying outside, it has been over two months but those on campus have been battling with power supply for more than three weeks now.
“This has affected the water supply too. If the taps cannot provide water due to power supply issues, we buy from wheelbarrow hawkers. This has become an additional burden on the student. Those in the community too also buy water from hawkers.
“Since this water scarcity started, the usual reading at night has become an issue and you know our examinations are just a few weeks away. We need those responsible to come to our aid.”
A 300-Level student of Business Administration, Amina Husseini, who lives off-campus, also told that the amount her schoolmates spend on charging their gadgets such as phones, power banks and rechargeable lanterns was disturbing.
She said, “For over two months now, this issue of light in the school community is affecting everyone. We have all become desperate because our examinations are approaching.
“We will be starting on June 19. Many students enjoy reading late at night. This has affected them. The water too is another problem. Some parts of the community have water because they are closer to the water corporation, and thermal power plants to get water. But the school has been having water since the blackout.
“Sometimes, the students use their lamps and phones to read at night. You know all these would not last long because they have to charge them as well. For a small gadget, they will charge N100. But for power banks and laptops, you pay N200 each.”
The school Registrar, Ahmad Lawan, has, however, attributed the blackout on the campus to a payment dispute between the university and the Yola Electricity Distribution Company.
Lawan disclosed this in a release titled, “Disconnection of power supply by the Yola Electricity Distribution Company,” dated June 5, 2023, a copy of which was sighted by our correspondent on Wednesday.
He assured the students and staff members that the university was working hard to resolve all issues.
“While the university management expresses regret and displeasure over the action of YEDC, it urges staff members and students to patiently bear with the situation as efforts are being made to resolve the matter,” the release partly read.
