My family and I have had to live off-the-grid for about a decade without electricity. When we finally got back to using grid electricity, we thought the list of problems that we had shrank a bit. It was not until we experienced yet another blackout that lasted for a week that we were reminded of just how unsustainable it was to depend on the grid for electricity.
There are not many places in Nigeria that have steady electricity. Even the idea of having electricity from mains running regularly seems like a mysterious thing to many people. It's sad, but it is true. All my life, I have been used to it. It gets very challenging on some days, especially when the alternatives are unavailable; other days, we forget that it's 2023 and don't remember that there's a thing like electricity.
We moved to our own residence about six years ago, and, unlike the previous one where we were cut off from the electricity grid, we didn't even have electricity in this new community. There was no hope of getting power flashed at us, and so we always ran on gasoline with generators.
Our community leaders eventually managed to get power running in the community. And, to my surprise, it lasted more often than I expected. Coupled with the idea that electricity bills for prepaid metres were relatively cheap, I was more than excited. What I didn't expect was the sudden blackouts that they would rain on us at times. One of those times was when I had 
Star had never been to where my family and I resided, and so I planned his visit and had him come over. It was meant to be a three-day stay. We are both guitarists, and so we were going to make jam together. We were going to need electricity for that. And, also, for the fact that we are active Hivers, we were going to need that juicy electricity that we now have running in the community.
The morning that Star was going to come was when the power went out after a long time. I didn't flinch because I thought they'd return it sooner or later. Star arrived in the evening, and until the next day, nothing happened; there was no electricity.
It was disappointing that we didn't have electricity for that long. It was nothing new anyway, so we ran on the generator for the times we needed it. The catch, however, is that we had not bought gasoline for a while, and so we had only a little.
As we had only a little gasoline to run the generator, we were unable to make any guitar videos to jam together and publish here. Also, we had our devices low for the most part, especially our PCs.
It was a tad bit embarrassing to have spoken so well about our electricity and then get a blackout instead. It was annoying that it was happening, and we were mostly stranded.
With or without the electricity, Star and my family were able to bond well as we had other activities to do that didn't require power. For one, our daily morning devotions were very interesting, and we had quite the camaraderie amongst ourselves.
Until the day that Star returned home, there was no power. Guess what, however? The very evening Star left, they brought back the power, and it lasted for a very long time. It felt as though they wanted to let Star see just how the community was before power was brought in. Star and I just laughed about it on the phone and hoped that it wouldn't happen again the next time he comes visiting.
The blackouts still happen like that. We have relearned to not depend on it and make sure we have our alternatives available most of the time. I just wonder for how long we will continue this way until we really start getting regular electricity. Until then, we'll manage.
Image 2
