Would you notice if the power stations were shut down in your country?

Pride comes before a fall, and following my recent blog posts about how wonderfully reliable our electricity has been, I got home last night to find there was none.  I cooked and studied by candlelight, used two batteries for my laptop, and slept with the windows closed and my ears stopped with ear plugs against the sound of my neighbours generators.  And I heard there was a strike.

Now I am at work where we have apparently 36 hours of battery back up, and I found this wonderful story from panapress which I really have to share with you, in the interest of acknowledging my souces, I found it at http://www.panapress.com/freenews.asp?code=eng057805&dte=25/08/2010  and as for the normally well-lit glistening streets of Abuja, can somebody tell me where they are please?

Nigeria's electricity workers on strike

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's 40,000 electricity workers Wednesday embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike to press for payment of "monetisation" arrears, but most Nigerians who are already used to poor power supply are shrugging off the strike.


The few hours of electricity usually enjoyed by residents of most cities across Africa's most populous nation were cut due to the strike.
 "We told all our members to stay at home and all the power stations in the country have been shut down," said workers' spokesman Temple Iworimo.

But government spokesman Labaran Maku said the situation is under control, and that the government will do all it can to resolve the problem.

"In the next couple of days, those issues (payments of arrears of allowances) would be resolved," said Maku, who is the junior Minister of Information.

On Wednesday night, the normally well-lit streets of the glistening capital city of Abuja were plunged into darkness, except in areas that were lit by solar-powered lights. 

"Most streets here are in darkness. That's how you will know there is a strike ," Adebayo Ojo, an Abuja resident, told PANA.

Apart from street lights, most Nigerians, who provide their own electricity using power generators, are oblivious of the strike.

"What difference does it make?" queried Innocent Chukwu, a Lagos resident. "We have not had light in our area for weeks. Let them continue the strike for as long as they wish."

Nigeria, with a population of 150 million, generates about 3,000 megawatts of electricity, which is inadequate to power the vast country.

Most homes and businesses depend on power generators for electricity, as the government monopoly Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) cannot meet their electricity demands.

Lagos - 25/08/2010