For more than two weeks now the Kano Electricity Distribution Company, KEDCO, has denied me electricity due to no fault of mine.
The events that culminated into my predicament are so incredible that rather than make me angry, are becoming amusing. They have also underscored the fact that the sleaze and rot that bedevilled the defunct NEPA are inherently very much present in the current electricity distribution companies that are the offshoot of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.
My ordeal began more than five years ago when the new prepaid meters were installed in the newly constructed estate in which I live in Bakori, Katsina State. When the installers reached my house, they realised that the meter meant for my house was installed in my neighbour's house. Rather than retrieving it, they programmed another one and installed in my house. So both the one in my house and that of my neighbour's house bore my name and my house address. There the foundation of my problem was laid.
The first problem started when the installer suggested that he was willing to alter my meter, if I paid him, in such a way that it would incur less charges. When I flatly refused, he went away without activating the meter. It took several days of constant visit to their office in Funtua before it was activated.
The second problem came about five years later when KEDCO decided to change the meters in the whole estate. They introduced a new meter that was fixed high up above the electric pole because the old meter, though prepaid, was being bypassed by the customers. Mine was installed successfully but the remote control that was used to recharge the meter was faulty. It's supposed to work with battery when there was no electricity but mine only worked with electricity. So if my credit was exhausted, somebody has to climb on top of the pole to recharge the meter. It took several days of complaint at their office in Funtua before they sent their staff with another remote control which was "married" to my meter using a series of codes. Two days later the meter shut itself off and there was no electricity in the house. I went and complained again. It took them several days to get the necessary code from Kano via email before the meter was activated. Then the new remote control that was "married" to my meter refused to work because the new code that was used to reactivate the meter "dissolved" the "marriage". I was told to revert to using the old, faulty remote control. After only a day, again, there was no electricity in the main house, but only in the security guard's room. When I called the meter technician, he said it wasn't his work, I should get my local electrician to repair it. Meanwhile, my generator broke down and the mechanic couldn't come to repair it till the following day. So I decided to call my local electrician to come and rectify the problem. For three days, the call wasn't going through and I later learnt that his phone had been stolen. I got another electrician from Bakori KEDCO office who, after so much time wasting couldn't trace the problem. I sent somebody who knew my electrician's house to go and call him but he found the house locked, both the man and his wife were out. The following day, the boy went back and only found the man's wife, who confirmed that the man had no phone and couldn't be reached. He left a message. When the man came back and was told, he went to the wrong house who told him they had no problem. It took another day and when we didn't see him I sent my wife herself to the house since I was out of town myself. This time she was lucky to find him. He came and rectified the problem.
Just when I was beginning to think my problem was over it started all over again. A little over two weeks ago, I got a phone call from Funtua KEDCO office. They told me that they had found out that the meter in my house was supposed to be that of my neighbour and vice versa. That they were going to swap the two. I said fine. A day after, they swapped the two with my meter having 152 units of electricity while the one they fixed in my house had zero. It was on a Saturday, so I tried to purchase units using the UBA Mobile Banking App as I always did. My account was debited but no units were sent. I had left Bakori by then and I was in Katsina. So I went to KEDCO office to manually buy the units and to complain. When they checked they said I had to pay a debt of more than six thousand naira before I would be allowed to buy the units. Because I desperately needed the electricity since it was weekend, I paid seven thousand naira. They deducted the debt and gave me 19 units which I could manage till Monday when I would complain about the debt in the meter which was clearly not mine. Even the printout had somebody's name and address. I sent the units via sms to my wife to load. They meter rejected the units. It took another three days of complain before they sent their staff to load the units.
Then they told me that they had found my neighbour's meter in their store and they're coming to install it and retrieve mine from his house and put it back in my house. The installer said he would do that on Friday or Saturday. As it happened, he collapsed that night and was hospitalised. Another installer said he was too busy and couldn't come till Monday, but I found out that he had gone on weekend. On Friday, immediately after prayers, I rushed back to their office in Funtua to complain to the Regional Manager only to find out everybody had gone on weekend, only those selling meter token remained. And nobody was willing to give me the Regional Manager's phone number. Somehow, I later got his number and called. He said he would get the Desk Officer to contact me. When the Desk Officer finally called, he said they would get another installer to come and fix it on Saturday. By evening, when he didn't come, I called the Desk Officer and he refused to take my call. As of this moment, that is the situation and I'm waiting to see what they would do next week.
Isn't this enough to drive one crazy? What would you do if you were in my position?