Some generator mechanics in Kaduna State on Thursday complained of low patronage as power supply stabilized across the country.
A cross section of the mechanics, who spoke to us in Kaduna, said the development has brought untold hardship to their families.
One of them, Mr Kahinde David, said that on a good day, he service about 20 generators daily and charged between N300 and N1000 depending on the size or nature of repair.
``But since power supply improved some months ago, I barely service three generators a day.
``I used to generate at least N10,000 income daily, but now I hardly make up to N1,000.
``This has brought untold hardship to my family.
``I am already considering another trade since generator servicing is no longer paying,’’ he said.
Mr Babatunde Abiola, another mechanic and a father of five children, also lamented that the current stability in power supply was threatening to put him out of business.
He said that his patronage has drastically dropped to between two and five generators daily from an average of 18 generators when power was unstable.
``This has seriously affected my daily savings, which equally dropped from N7, 000 to barley N800 or N1000.
``This is beside the fact that I have financial responsibilities to take care of, particularly children school fees and rent.
``I do not really know what I will do if the situation continues like this,’’ Abiola said.
The story was the same for Mr Okoro Bertrand, who said he only remained in the business because of profit from sales of spare parts.
According to him, patronage from generator owners has also dropped from about 12 to two generators per day.
``Sometimes I stay a whole day without a single customer,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the development has forced other generator mechanics like Auwal Sani and Sani Mohammed to switch to refrigerator maintenance and welding respectively.
They told our source that they had to change their line of business because it offered better opportunities than generator servicing , with current stability in power supply, .
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