Perennial Blackouts fuel Phone-Charging business at UDUS

By Muheeb Mashood

For months, between February and May, Abdulhameed Ilyas, a student of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), spent close to N1,000 almost daily to charge his phones and powerbank at the charging centres scattered around Jubril Aminu halls of residence.

This expense, a result of the university community’s unstable power supply within the period, has taken a toll on the student’s finances, he said.

Abdulrouf Mubaraq, another student of UDUS, has lived this reality too well. Every two days, he spends roughly N800 on powering his power bank, laptop, and two phones. 

While the cost of food and transport is already burdensome for him, the additional cost of charging his devices only adds to the strain.

“This has created a lot of problems with managing the little money that my parents give me,” Mr Mubaraq told Campus Reporter. “And I have no choice but to charge these items because I use them for my academic activities like assignments, tutorials, and handouts.”

Students who spoke to Campus Reporter said the power challenge at the university worsened around February when the solar system carrying the electricity burden of the university developed a fault. Whenever there’s no electricity supply from the electricity grid at night, the solar plant is used to power the university facilities, including hostels, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

By the time the plant was repaired in June, charging stores had increased on the campus, and students had expended a large chunk of their living allowances at these stores to power their gadgets. While the solar plant reduced the outages, it is still frequent, the students said.

Inside UDUS Booming Charging Economy 

In UDUS, most students own power banks to charge their devices in case of power outages.

While a 20,000mAh power bank is currently sold at the rate of N14,000 to N15,000 depending on the model, this expensive item comes with frequent charging fees to service its usage. 

From Jubril Aminu hostel to Benji, a private hostel housing thousands of students, the university’s mini market, and other communities within the university, students’ daily life has been characterised by these unplanned expenses.

The students’ only option, visiting charging stores, has now fueled a booming phone and laptop charging economy within the university. 

As the blackout worsened, Musa Ibrahim saw the electricity challenge as an opportunity for business. In May, Mr Ibrahim established Luqman Charging Enterprises at Jubril Aminu Hostel, joining other existing businesses charging students’ gadgets for a fee. With blackouts come good business for the charging stations.

At the Jubril Aminu hostel,  five charging stations currently serve the hostel’s residents and neighbouring communities. Campus Reporter counted five charging centres at the school mini mart and four at Benji, a private hostel. 

A survey within the campus also revealed that the charging stations charged N200 for a phone and N400 for computers. For power banks, the prices vary depending on the size. A 20,000mAh power bank costs N300, and N400 for power banks with capacities between 30,000mAh and 40,000mAh. For power banks with 60,000mAh capacities, they charge N500.

“When the gadgets are not fully charged, we make sure to be considerate by cutting down the price depending on the percentage of the gadgets received,” said Mr Ibrahim.

But some operators who use the power from the two Telecommunication Towers on the campus charge lower fees. One is located near the school mini market, and the second one is sited beside the university’s Vice Chancellor Complex. They bill students N150 to charge a phone and N200 to charge a 20,000mAh power bank. It is unclear if this service is sanctioned by the operators of the cell towers whose power is used to run these businesses.

While some of the charging stations on the campus rely on fuel generators, others conduct their businesses with solar.

Campus Reporter attempted to ascertain how much the charging stations make daily. However, all the operatives interviewed declined to state their earnings, preferring to keep it private.

However, we counted more than 150 sockets that are regularly filled at Luqman Enterprises. At Sawaba Communication and Electronics, the biggest charging store at the school mini market, there are over 300 charging sockets in one store, and many more at another. Campus Reporter gathered that Sawaba, who now uses solar to power his service, started with a generator. 

Financial Burden for students

But their earnings constitute a financial burden on the students.

Titilayo Abdulkareem prefers reading with her phone. It saves her the cost of printing handouts and reading materials. However, the recurrent blackouts have pushed her to a crossroads. 

One time in March, Ms Abdulkareem was preparing for a test, but her only hope to study using the phone was dashed due to an extended power outage. When the results of the test came out, she scored 18 out of 40 marks, the student recalled.

“I had to cut my expenses to pay for charging before I could study,” she said.

That was not all. “There was a day when I had to buy pepper. I ended up spending the money on charging because I must study for an assessment,” she added.

Habeeb Ismail described the situation as a “frustrating” crisis. Like Ms Abdulkareem, Mr Ismail often depends on his gadgets for academic work, communication, and accessing online resources. When they are not charged, he finds himself missing assignment deadlines, important messages, online lectures, and study opportunities.

Aside from the charging concern, electricity is needed for fans in Sokoto, one of Nigeria’s hottest cities where the temperature regularly crosses 40°C. The student said he had to purchase a rechargeable fan to ease the unbearable heat, but that too needs constant charging at another cost to him.

University’s plan to address issue

The university’s Vice Chancellor, Bashir Garba, a professor, said the university has plans to get the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDC) to move it to Band ‘A’ to improve the university’s electricity supply. Since 2024, the Nigerian government has categorised electricity users into Band A, B, C, D and E, depending on the community’s need for electricity.

While Band A customers get a minimum of 20 hours of electricity daily, they also pay higher fees of N200 per kilowatt-hour. In comparison, Band B customers pay N60 per kilowatt-hour to get an average of 16 hours of electricity daily.

UDUS Dean of Students’ Affairs, Umar Zayyanu, a professor, explained that the university is committed to prioritising the welfare of the students and driving the school out of epileptic power supply. 

Mr Zayyanu said the university also planned to provide solar systems to each unit of the university.

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate stands at 15.93% as of May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This crisis continues to shape economic growth, with ordinary citizens now surviving from hand-to-mouth. 

Amid the difficulty, UDUS students continue to incur additional expenses to service their gadgets. Sometimes, they spend their last surviving amount of money on this must-do routine.

The wait, the hurry

Another challenge, students say, is getting spaces to charge their gadgets at the charging stores. Students also accuse the operators of unplugging their gadgets before they are fully charged. 

One of the operators, Mr Ibrahim, confirmed this, but said it was to ensure that more students get some power on their gadgets.

He said they sometimes unplug phones charged above 70 per cent and power banks charged above 50 per cent to plug other phones that are in the queue, but without additional sockets.

“We collect some people’s gadgets in advance too,” said Mr Ibrahim. “We must do our part to ensure fairness no matter how little we can. Yet, some students would still insult us. We normally explain, but they are not ready to listen.”

To beat these queues, Muheezah Olarinoye habitually leaves her hostel at the crack of dawn to secure space at the charging centres. Many a time, Ms Olarinoye waits for an extended period before she is attended to. The students said she spends N1,000 on her phone and two power banks that often last her only a day or two.

“Usually, the charging spots get filled up. So, they normally reject phones from us due to lack of enough pass cards or spaces. And sometimes our gadgets don’t charge,” she said.

One evening in May, Mr Ilyas almost had an altercation with a charging operator when he wanted to collect his gadget. At first, the operator said he couldn’t find Mr Ilyas’s phone and asked him to wait. But he spent a lot of time attending to a queue of new customers who wanted to charge their phones instead of looking for Mr Ilyas’s phone. Eventually, he did, but not before the student barked at the operator for keeping him waiting.

How power decline began

Some students said the university’s power supply was not always this bad. Mr Ilyas remembered when he gained admission in 2021. For the first two years, he stayed at Bakassi hostel of the university, and students had stable electricity throughout the day. Whenever there was an interruption at night, diesel generators were used to power the hostel between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00p.m, he said.

“I started experiencing this (power outages) in 2024. That was my 300-Level when the power supply became poor to some extent,” Mr Ilyas recounted to Campus Reporter. 

Muheezah Olarinoye, another student, recalled that stable electricity welcomed her to the university during her first weeks at Benji, a private hostel, in UDUS last year. But Ms Olarinoye would later experience close to six months of total blackout at the private hostel after the entire community was disconnected from the electricity grid over unpaid bills.

The students appealed to the university management to invest in more power sources to avoid long power outages.

“I would appeal to the school management to invest in alternative power sources such as solar energy systems, improve electricity infrastructure on campus, and ensure a more stable power supply,” said Habeeb Ismail.

“These measures would greatly improve students’ learning experience and quality of life.”