We depended on ice blocks from Niger Republic for 8 years – Sokoto residents

Residents of Gwadabawa Local Government Area in Sokoto State have narrated the hardship they endured during the eight years they were disconnected from the national grid, revealing that many relied on ice blocks imported from the neighbouring Niger Republic to preserve food and run small businesses. Gwadabawa was among the eight local government areas in […]

Residents of Gwadabawa Local Government Area in Sokoto State have narrated the hardship they endured during the eight years they were disconnected from the national grid, revealing that many relied on ice blocks imported from the neighbouring Niger Republic to preserve food and run small businesses.

Gwadabawa was among the eight local government areas in the eastern part of the state that were plunged into total darkness for years before power was recently restored through the intervention of the state government.

Malam Umar Abdullahi, a resident, described the period as “eight years of untold difficulty,” stressing that life became unbearable without electricity.

“It was extremely challenging. Small businesses were crippled due to the absence of power. Some of our traders had to travel to Konni in Niger Republic to buy ice blocks because the town is closer to us than Sokoto, and we were sure of getting the ice anytime we needed it. But the prices were very high,” he said.

He added that the situation improved significantly once power was restored a few months ago.

Another resident, Murtala Garba, recounted how the prolonged outage destroyed the local economy, noting that businesses dependent on electricity were the worst hit.

“Any business that relied on power simply collapsed. It worsened the economic hardship we were already facing,” he stated.

During an inspection of one of the newly installed transformers in the area on Thursday, the Commissioner for Energy, Alhaji Sanusi Danfulani, assured residents that the state government had awarded contracts to fully restore electricity across all the affected local government areas.

He said the government remained committed to ensuring a stable power supply to boost economic activities and improve the living conditions of the people.