Alternative Noise Supply

“ What is wrong with this electricity people, can’t they go for three hours without acting?”

“Man, this culture is what we were born into. No need developing high blood pressure over your culture. It’s here to stay”

“ Culture? Is that what you people have nick named this electricity people’s incompetency now?”

“ You people? Who is you people? Are you not a Nigerian? Bro, everyone is in this together”

“ This problem of light shortages don’t used to be like this, it started about 25 years ago”

“ 25 years? Do you realized the number you just mentioned? Minus that number from your current age and see how old you were then”

“ But truly that was when it all started. It doesn’t used to be like this” 

“You are sounding like a grandfather, if you minus 25 years you said this malady started from your current age, though am sure it goes beyond that year. You would be around 17 or 16 years”

“ I was 18 and in this country, 18 is rated adult age. So, I know what am saying. All this cut and join distribution method they are using now wasn’t in existence then”

“ well, it is now. Their excuses were that factories and the reckdaisacal ways people leave their electronics on while out of their houses were major contributors to the shortages”

“Ha! John, so you are a subscriber to this line of nonsense excuses the staffs and their bosses were distributing. What factories? what electronics? How many factories still exists in this country? All have gone to our neighboring nations were story in the ebergy sector is positive. Why is this country’s culture always negative in everything, every sector that matters?”

“ No too much problem. We still have about 30 minutes of waiting to do if they remember to on it as they remembered to off it. It usually stays one hour or a little longer each time they take it”

“ Imagine what we are debating in 21st century Nigeria the giant of Africa. We are even manufacturing excuses for their short comings. This is too appalling I must let you know”

“ let me know? Who am I? Anyway, why is the management of this place don’t have alternative power supply source?”

“ Don’t you look at the ticket in your hands? It is written there that 200 is for public supply source and 400 for alternative power supply. Do you hear any complaint from anyone here? They all know the prices they paid. The options are yours. You can either upgrade it to alternative power supply, or wait it out with public supply or go home”

That was my neighbor John arguing like a south Sudanese. Listening to him talk, you wouldn’t believe he have been to north Africa and south Africa in many occasions. The way things are run there have failed to dislodge the incompetency of ours in his psych.

A man that have stayed in Egypt for two months stretch and south Africa for about three weeks stretch, places where electricity runs for eternity without hindrance and when there is need for servicing, all citizens are alerted for 24 hours and all hospitals are told to get set yet, he is talking like ignorant villager tells you why our leaders most, western educated still behave the way they do. Years of staying in white man land and witnessing how things are done there still don’t have modicum of knowledge on it’s importance tells you that the problem is hereditary.

I suspect he must have forgotten that I was two rows behind them for he knew I don’t tolerates that kind of talk from him. The country have degenerated into what the government could not arrest anymore. Not actually that any sound mind expect them to do magic for they can’t arrest themselves.

But imagine what is coming out of this two mouths especially John. 25 years!, Shit. It means that most adults have never known peace in their entire lives. No wonder they react violently under small pressure. Every evening, all manners of generators, some meant never to be used near residential areas due to the noise coming from them are mounted by those believe themselves to be fortunate in the residential areas and put on from 7pm to 5:30 am each day.

   Almost half of the population have hearing problems of every degree. They were even asking why the management of the cinema house don’t have alternative power supply. If you are not regular here, you might even believed that it was due to poverty that many go for 200 naira ticket instead of 400 hundreds knowing fully well that electricity house would act before the movie they paid for is through.

Yes, there is no doubt that poverty plays a part in the ticket choice but the major contributor to manys choice is noise. The type of noise coming from the so called generator is in the class of it's own. 

I suspect they converted corn, saw and palm kernel crackers into one entity they call light generator and mount it behind the cinema hall and call it alternative power supplier A.K.A generator. 

In one occasion, I was desperate enough to pay like others to watch champions league match there a year ago. I came out of it not only wasting my money and time but with ear problem that lasted about two weeks too. 

It was terrible. I don’t know what to compare the noise to for your comprehension. Maybe those death flying coffins some call airlines most third world countries buy and call second hand when am sure it might be tenth hand planes that releases a kind of ear piercing noise from the degree or how do they measure what is well up there and still sounding as if it is right beside you.

Most human right activist had few years ago joined forces with the nursing mothers for government to ban the operators from using it near residential areas in the afternoon and nights. There is no way it can pass over head without waking up all the kids having a nap at that particular period to the consternation of the mothers. 

I never enjoyed a minute of that match that very day. How could I? The noise despite all the windows and doors being closed swallowed the commentary. It was like watching those silent movies only that music at least makes those silent movies enjoyable. 

One hour, thirty minutes later, the light was restored and it took the operator about ten minutes of his own tampering to restore the movie to the spot it was before the power off.