PUNCH
In this report, MUHAMMED LAWAL delves into the daily struggles of residents in a Lagos-Benin Republic border community, where years of power outages have left them without basic necessities
The journey along the dusty roads leading to Kweme Community, located near the Nigeria-Benin border, was an arduous one.
As dusk settled over the community, many individuals turned to various alternatives they had devised to cope with the harsh reality of living without electricity for years.
Our correspondent, who had set out on the journey, struggled to understand how many youths in the area managed to charge their mobile phones to stay connected with the rest of the country and the world.
“Is it true that Nigerians travel to Benin Republic just to charge their phones and fetch water?” the reporter asked a Beninese trader in the area.
The trader, who introduced himself as Misi, explained through a interpreter, “As I speak to you, we have stable power supply, and most Nigerians come here to charge their phones, fetch water, and take care of other needs.
“They patronise us because they do not have electricity, and Nigerian vendors who sell frozen foods cannot preserve their goods,” he added.
As our correspondent arrived in the Kweme community, the quiet, sun-drenched village came into view, with residents fanning themselves outside their houses.
Kweme is an ancient town in the western part of the Badagry Local Government Area in Lagos State.
It is situated along the Nigeria-Benin Republic border at Seme and has political and administrative influence over several villages, including Akoko, Asipa, Irosu, Gedu, Pengo, Topa, Asgbe (Owode), Farasinme, Shito, Gbethrome, Yekeme and Pashi.
Sunday PUNCH learnt that most of these communities have seen little to no significant development in the past decade.
Since 2017, Kweme residents have lived without electricity, leaving thousands of homes in darkness and forcing them to navigate an existence that feels increasingly detached from the modern world.
Aside from Kweme, other border communities such as Farasinme, Asheri, Pashi, Ganme, Alobaten, Gedu and Irosu have also been plunged into total darkness, pushing many residents to find alternative ways to cope with the crisis.
This prolonged blackout has not only negatively impacted residents’ quality of life but has also crippled local businesses.
‘We charge our phones in Benin Republic’
As our correspondent went through Kweme community, it was observed that although the houses lining the streets were inhabited, an unsettling stillness hung in the air.
It was gathered that many Beninese subtly mock their Nigerian neighbours over their prolonged struggle with electricity—humour that underscores the stark energy disparity between the two countries.
“Your government cannot do anything about power supply in your country, yet you call yourselves the ‘Giant of Africa,’” a businesswoman in the community told our correspondent in a sarcastic tone.
Sitting quietly beneath a gazebo was a woman who introduced herself as Hawawu Raji. She explained to our correspondent how the daily hardships caused by the persistent lack of electricity had taken a toll on residents.
“I pay N200 to charge my phone there, and sometimes I take a motorcycle or beg motorists to help me get to the country,” Raji said in a sorrowful tone.
“Benin Republic has an uninterrupted power supply, and whenever they plan to disrupt it, they send a notification to everyone and restore it without delay.”
Hawawu noted that residents in the border community felt like outsiders in their own country.
“There are no companies here for our husbands to work in. We want to start working to support them so that we do not become burdens to them,” she added.
She further disclosed that her business had shut down because it relied entirely on electricity, adding that even her fridge had been damaged after being without power for seven years.
“Women in the community have been forced into businesses they shouldn’t have been involved in, just to feed their families,” she said.
An ironic twist
An investigation by Sunday PUNCH revealed that while Nigeria struggles with power outages, it remains a key supplier of electricity to Benin Republic.
Benin, classified under international bilateral electricity customers, receives a constant power supply from Nigeria.
These bilateral electricity customers refer to companies or entities from neighbouring countries that purchase electricity directly from a power grid in another country through a bilateral agreement—essentially buying electricity on a one-on-one basis between the two nations involved.
Last year, the Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Sule Abdulaziz, disclosed that Nigeria supplies 24-hour electricity to neighbouring countries Benin and Togo, even as the country faced widespread discussions following a recent power grid collapse.
“We supply Benin, Togo, and Niger. They get power from Nigeria on a 24-hour basis, and they are paying for it,” Abdulaziz stated.
That same year, the Federal Government revealed that Benin and Togo owe Nigeria $14 million for electricity.
While Benin enjoys stable power supply, many parts of Nigeria, including Kweme, continue to experience chronic power outages.
This power disparity has fuelled frustration among Nigerian citizens, who, despite belonging to a power-producing nation, remain deprived of the basic services they desperately need.
Crumbling businesses
The local business community, particularly those selling frozen food, has been devastated by the constant lack of power.
A frozen food vendor in Kweme, Abdullahi Roimot, spoke about the endless difficulties she faced.
“I can barely afford 20 litres of fuel a week just to keep my fridge running and preserve fish,” she noted.
The high cost of fuel is crippling, and often, her goods spoil before she can sell them.
“I have never made a profit,” Roimot admitted, her voice tinged with a mixture of pain and resignation.
Her story is not an isolated one, as the lack of electricity has forced countless business owners into debt while they struggle to keep their businesses afloat.
Without power, there are no sales, no income, and no hope for improvement. Many, like Roimot, have found themselves at a breaking point.
“The debt I incurred means I can no longer afford to buy frozen foods. Imagine that the foreign exchange rate is unfavorable, and yet one still loses money,” she said tearfully.
She also shared her recurring medical condition with this reporter.
“I have a health issue that affects me from time to time. The one I experienced recently could have taken my life. There is no power. I was sweating profusely in discomfort, feeling like I was suffocating.”
Roimot’s condition, which often leaves her weak and overheated, becomes a serious threat when there is no electricity, depriving her of the cooling relief of a fan.
“I got up from the bed and lay on the floor, hoping for some relief. But it was still unbearable. The heat just wouldn’t go away,” she said.
According to Roimot, the absence of power makes an already difficult situation even worse.
“If there was electricity, I might not have had to go through all of this. There was no light to power the fan, and without it, everything became much harder to bear.”
Roimot added, “We are only waiting for God to help us out of this situation. There’s nothing more we can do.”
No clean water
According to one of the residents, “The most heartbreaking part of this ordeal is that we are forced to drink from wells due to the lack of pipe-borne water.”
She added that the lack of electricity affects more than just phone charging—it extends to the basic necessity of clean water.
Explaining the extreme measures they take to make their water drinkable, Bashir Abdullahi said, “We drink water from the well, either boiling it or adding alum to purify it.”
Many mornings, they wake up at 3 a.m. to fetch water before the well dries up.
“We also fetch water from Benin Republic because the water here is not drinkable. We have no choice but to boil well water or add alum before drinking it,” he stated.
Similarly, a teacher at one of the public primary schools in the area, Abdullahi Semando, described how the school was equipped with computers meant to enhance learning, but without electricity, the resources remained entirely useless.
He lamented that the children, once hopeful for a brighter future, were left without the tools to succeed.
“Due to the lack of power, we have not been able to use the computers to teach the children, and this is affecting their education. The computers are just sitting in the place where we put them,” Semando said, despair evident in his voice.
Semando further stated that they often travel to Benin Republic to take care of almost everything because of the reliable electricity supply there.
“We charge our phones over there too. We are going through a lot. The government is not focusing on us, as if we are not Nigerians,” he added, his tone filled with hopelessness.