Irregular power supply and the attendant hassles caused by the various individual palliative measures deployed by Nigerians to grapple with the endemic problem is the thrust of Episode 11 of “Professor Johnbull”, the television satire sponsored by Globacom and broadcast last Tuesday on NTA Network, NTA International and StarTimes.
The episode, poetically titled: “Voice of the city,” aptly refers to the noise produced by the various generators deployed by citizens eking out a living and those trying to fight the heat at night.
Professor Johnbull’s visiting nephew from United States, Dr. Ifeanyi Ogunyemi, experienced insomnia and hallucination as a result of the twin combination of generator noise, which he described as “like I am sleeping in a factory” and the oppressive heat.
The altercation, which escalated to litigation between Madam Doris (Patience Ozokwor), a nurse on night duty trying to catch sleep during the day, and Olaniyi, the restaurateur powering his generator to cool his drinks and preserve his nkwobi, was used to depict another instance of the trauma being experienced by Nigerians as a result of erratic power supply.
The different types of myths surrounding generator use like old generators make the loudest noise and the use of generators as status symbols were also dispelled in the episode, which also revealed Ufoma’s (Bimbo Akintola) love for the widower, Professor Johnbull.
Wrapping up the episode in his characteristic manner, Professor Johnbull, who posited that the problem was as old as time, made a case for alternative sources of electricity generation, good neighbourliness and cessation of vandalism of electricity facilities.