Food Getting Spoilt, No Sex— Women Lament Power Outages

The whole compound reeked of spoiled Egusi (melon) soup as Mrs. Elizabeth Igwu, a house wife residing in Kubwa, stirred her pot of soup while warming it. She didn’t seem to mind that the soup was no longer fresh and palatable for consumption.

Kubwa is a suburban district in the Federal Capital Territory, and it’s just about 18km to the city centre.

It has had its fair share of poor power supply such that many households lament about additional costs in doing business and living in the area.

And for Mrs Igwu, life has become unbearable no thanks to lack of electricity supply.

“You see this soup, we must finish it,” she muttered to herself as she continued to stir the soup, which had begun to be rancid.

She had spent over N7,000 to make the soup, hoping that it would last for at least three days. But some hours after making the soup, it started to show rising air bubbles and changing colour.

Mrs Igwu, determined not to throw away the pot of soup at this critical time, said she had hoped the soup would still be put in the fridge for them to manage it.

But no, electricity was not restored as the soup began to show spurting liquid and cotton-like mould growth rendering it completely spoiled for consumption.

“I actually made this soup in the morning. When my children came back around 4pm, I decided to make ‘eba’ (cooked starchy food made from dried grated cassava flour) for them. I just opened the soup and noticed that something was wrong. We will eat it like that,” she told THE WHISTLER.

Igwu stated that the amount she had spent making the soup was double the amount she used to spend in making the same quantity and quality of soup in 2023.

The high costs of goods in the market have made cooking very expensive, but for this mother of three, the lack of power supply was her actual headache. The extremely hot weather being currently experienced in the country makes hers a case of double jeopardy.

“My fridge is not cold due to the poor power supply. I can’t refrigerate my soup any longer. I have resorted to warming my food in the mornings and evenings, yet the soup ‘gets mind spoil’,” she lamented.

Nigeria’s power supply has remained on a steady decline since February. Also, the heat wave in the country has made life even tougher. Recently, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency stated that the current excessive heat being experienced in the country will go on for a while.

According to the agency’s prediction, “Air temperatures hit 41°C over the North and 39°C over the South with model Projections indicating temperatures to remain high in the coming days.”

Igwu stated that all these situations have made managing her home more difficult as she was constantly in the kitchen cooking or warming her food.

“What I normally do is that I cook several dishes on Saturdays and store them in my fridge. So the only thing I do is just to bring the food out and warm it, but with what I am seeing now, I can’t try that again,” she complained.

She added that she invests the time she would have spent on other meaningful ventures on constant cooking.

“Now, I also spend more money on cooking gas. Normally, my 12.5kg gas lasts for two months, but this time around, it only lasts for one and a half months,” she said.

The poor power supply has also made buying food stuff in bulk difficult. Victoria Odom, a civil servant, told THE WHISTLER.

Odom stated that she usually bought tomatoes, pepper, meat and other items in large quantities and stored them in her freezer to use at her convenient time, but that at present, she can no longer do that.

“Buying in bulk helps you save money. But now, buying in bulk is suicidal. Three weeks ago when the power supply dropped, all the food in my freezer spoiled. I lost a lot. Now, I just buy what I need on a daily basis, and it isn’t helping at all,” she stated.

Apart from the difficulty in managing the home, Aisha Mohammed, a provision seller, stated that since the power supply became drastically low, she has not been able to sleep well.

“Everywhere is hot. I can’t sleep. I always wake up drowsy. I just don’t feel like going for my business. I go to my shop and find myself sleeping. I’m always tired,” Aisha lamented.

She further stated that even when she is trying to catch some sleep at night, her children aged two and three won’t allow her because they are also feeling the discomfort.

“The other night, my two year old daughter asked me to fan her as she was feeling hot. As I was doing that, she fell asleep. When I stopped, she woke up and started crying. I had to resume fanning her. I am not finding it funny,” she said.

Aisha said the situation was affecting her mental health and hopes that the government would soon find a solution to the poor power supply.

“I know we can’t do much about the heat. But if there is a power supply, we can at least put on our fans and AC and enjoy our sleep. It will help a great deal,” she added.

The Nigerian government has attributed the extremely poor power output to the low supply of gas to generating companies (GenCos).

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who disclosed this in a statement on his X handle last month said, “Power supply during the yuletide improved, but unfortunately, we’ve experienced setbacks in the new year. After investigations, it’s clear that the main cause of poor power supply is the low supply of gas to GenCos.”

The problem still persists in many parts of the country with no end in sight.

Last month, some women in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, staged a peaceful protest over the prolonged power outage which has prompted their husbands to avoid having romantic relations with them at night due to the excruciating heat.

“That too is another problem,” a nurse who pleaded anonymity told THE WHISTLER.

“You know that there is a way sex can relieve stress and anxiety. But with the heat, it is like a punishment. How will a woman manage the home front with all these challenges?” She queried.