WHY WE CAN’T HAVE RAIN AND ELECTRICITY AT THE SAME TIME IN NIGERIA- A SATIRE!

The interruption of power supply when there is rain has now become a norm in Nigeria. “Na so i dey inside bus and one woman was like: “Se eyin o de ni mu ina lo bayi?” (Will you not take light now that it is raining?). It is like a maintenance strategy. It feels mysterious whenever it rains and there is NEPA light. When it begins to rain in Nigeria and there is still no sign of power failure, then i know NEPA is up to something or the world is coming to an end because their light is connected to rainfall. So, there seems to be unresolved problems between NEPA and rain. When will they settle their differences? You just don’t feel right when there is power supply and rain is falling.

Yet, we are not alone. Nigeria reminds me of Sri Lanka, Thailand, El Salvador, Guyana, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Somalia in terms of when it rains. There is always a problem.

The question then is, even if we generate 40,000MW of electricity, with this current DisCos, there will still be blackout when there is rain. Haba! NEPA no dey take eye see rain.

Things rarely change in Nigeria. Electricity still goes off for days when there is rain, thunder or a gust of wind! It is so bad that one day after it rained, i saw many posts on various walls of my friends and relatives appreciating the uninterrupted supply while it rained. Even when receiving seasonal greetings, it normally comes with a prayer that it should be without rain and with electricity.

Infact, you can’t have rain, quality internet service and electricity at the same time in Nigeria. It is almost an abomination to have rain and electricity together in Nigeria. We have to choose between electricity and rain. We can’t have them both at once. They are enemies. They don’t “coincide”. They are mutually exclusive.

Nigerian electricity is generated from water and cut off by rain. Small rainfall and NEPA will “dry” wire for 2 weeks. It’s like electricity officials have to ‘sun-dry’ power cables before restoring power.

Is there a way to convert rain water to fuel and electricity? Nigerian rain must be different from other countries’ rain, cos everything stops working when it rains in Nigeria- electricity, internet, cable providers, public transport, and even some “people’s brains shut down too”. If you really want to understand the beef between electricity and rain in Nigeria, you have to wait for the day rain will fall and electricity won’t be interrupted.

Nigeria will cease to be Nigeria if rainfall stops being associated with lack of electricity. There are two things that don’t go together- Rain and electricity in Nigeria. Rainy nights are best until you remember you are in Nigeria where rain and electricity are sworn enemies. This is the country where if rains starts to fall, GSM network will disappear, Internet Service Provider- no network, electricity will go off, cable TV- no network. You could overthrow the government and nobody will know. One wonders who established the principle that when rain is about to fall or has started falling, operators should cut off power supply in Nigeria. Just a little breeze and you don take the thing..haba! DisCos in Nigeria use “old world” technology to distribute electricity. It is a shame that the country cannot develop if it has to wait for wind and rain to clear off before it can distribute electricity. Still, we can’t enjoy electricity and rain at the same time. If I have the option, I will choose electricity every time. I am tired of Nigerian electricity. Whenever it is raining, we lose electricity until the poles and wires get dry after a week. So, I want to ask, is rain not falling in the US and UK? That’s too much to expect in Nigeria… You can’t even have rain and electricity at the same time. Small rain, DSTV and mobile networks give you poor signal. Electricity goes off! You pay for services you don’t get and there is nothing you can do about it. A human being thinks that rain is a plausible excuse for failure to deliver electricity. Sad reality in Nigeria. How much shame will the nation face before it collapses?

Rain falls in Nigeria, buses dry up, huge traffic wants to kill you, mobile and call networks become horrible, DSTV signal is lost, you grope to get through your street, and to your house. PHCN poles are down, no electricity for sure, and you are probably too cold for being in the rain.

The issue is one of those problems more popular in third world countries because power systems are outdated, dilapidated, superannuated, antiquated and crusted. Thus, during heavy thunderstorms and gust, there is a high likelihood of extremely high short-circuit currents which can damage our many unprotected transformers, feeders and other plants. Also, it is possible to get clashing conductors, conductors snapping and broken wires which can electrocute humans walking along the roads. Rather than invest in proper network protection and earthing, DisCos switch off supplies. This is unintelligible and counter-productive.

During a heavy downpour, rainwater reduces the insulation capacity of electrical gadgets installed on power transmission and distribution networks. This leads to dangerously high short-circuit currents flowing in our extremely weak power network. Also, line to ground faults can occur as a result of the failure of insulation just as occurs with the direct contact of line conductors with the ground. Short-circuits blow fuses, and damage the myriads of unprotected equipment on our power network.

Besides, numerous road accidents happen during rainfall because vehicles and animals ramp into electric posts causing power interruption. Rather than invest in auto-reclosing and automated systems which will put circuits back in service automatically after transient faults, DisCos prefer to switch off supplies to avoid the real work of replacing damaged equipment due to faults that may occur during rainfall as this costs time and money.

Another occurrence during thunderstorm that is associated with rainfall is lightning. When lightning strikes power lines and towers, the resulting high voltage causes power surges which can damage our unprotected critical switching and voltage regulation components at power distribution and transmission substations resulting in blackouts.

In addition, due to our not operating with industry standards of electricity design, planning, control, protection, maintenace, and vegetation management, severe wind gusts experienced during rainfall cause branches, and at times, entire trees, to fall on power lines, interrupting power supplies.

Truth be told, some of the above causes of power failure can lead to the switching off of supplies even in advanced countries but this will be for situations when the level of severity is clearly beyond their control and not because of lack of investment in the network as it is in our case.