In Ketu and Mile 12, the evening search for electricity can begin with a five-litre container and a trip to a petrol station.
KIO reporter Abolade Johnson describes residents carrying containers to buy fuel for generators as part of a familiar evening routine. At the Total filling station on Ikosi Road, he observed a steady flow of customers buying petrol in containers alongside motorists filling their vehicles.
Others find somewhere to wait.
According to Johnson’s observations, some residents without backup power stay outside their homes until later in the evening. Barber shops become places to spend time and charge phones where electricity is available. Some residents linger at offices before returning home.
Power cuts shape where people spend their evenings, whether they can keep a fan running and what they must do to charge an everyday device.
For Omotolani, an Anthony resident, the frustration is electricity that returns without staying.
She describes supply lasting about 15 minutes at a time, roughly eight times, before another prolonged interruption until the following day.
On her WhatsApp status, she wrote: “This 2 hours light in 24hours can’t be God’s plan for our lives.”
For households relying on grid electricity, each interruption stops the fan again. Those with small petrol generators, popularly called “I better pass my neighbour”, have an alternative only while fuel is available and affordable.
In Ifako, Orebola Oresanwo has questioned the service received by customers outside Band A.
Posting on X and tagging Kosofe Inside Out, he described himself as a Band B customer receiving six hours of electricity every two days. He contrasted that experience with Ikeja Electric’s apologies to Band A customers for falling below their minimum 20-hour daily supply.
Johnson also reports that homes in Oworonshoki can go an entire day without even a brief restoration.
Electricity supply varies by street and feeder. These accounts describe conditions reported in the respective neighbourhoods.
For generator owners, the evening fuel purchase is another task before settling at home. For those without backup power, staying elsewhere can postpone the return to an uncomfortable room, while a powered shop or office offers a chance to charge a phone.
The Met Office forecast a daytime maximum of 32°C in Lagos on October 29, with an overnight minimum of 26°C. The forecast points to warm conditions continuing after sunset, although temperatures inside individual homes vary.
Omotolani’s account highlights why continuity matters alongside total supply hours. A brief restoration starts the fan, but leaves the household uncertain about how long that relief will last.
In Ketu and Mile 12, the evening journeys described by Johnson show the arrangements residents make around that uncertainty: buying fuel, finding somewhere with electricity or delaying the journey home.
In an October 19 public notice, Ikeja Electric attributed reduced supply hours across its network to insufficient electricity allocation from the national grid.
The distributor said it was engaging stakeholders and distributing available power as efficiently and equitably as possible. Its notice addressed the wider network shortage without setting out the supply position for individual neighbourhoods.
Ikeja Electric has also acknowledged substantial interruptions in Magodo. According to TheCable’s report of its circular, the company recorded zero supply on five Band A feeders on October 25 and 26, attributed the outages to panel-swapping work and apologised for missing the minimum service level.
For Oresanwo, those apologies sharpen the question of what customers on other service bands can expect. His complaint concerns both the electricity delivered to his area and the attention given to explaining the shortfall.
The published notices do not answer the specific complaints described in Anthony, Ifako and Oworonshoki.
The outstanding questions for Ikeja Electric are practical: what causes the repeated short restorations in Anthony, what supply has reached the affected feeders in Ifako and Oworonshoki, and what service can customers in Ketu and Mile 12 expect?
Feeder-level supply figures, explanations of faults or allocation constraints, and clear updates on corrective work would allow residents to compare the distributor’s account with their daily experience.
How’s electricity supply in your area?
Does power stay on, return in short bursts or remain off all day? Tell us your street or neighbourhood, roughly how many hours you received in the past 24 hours, and how you’re coping with the heat.
Share your experience in the comments or email kosofeinsideout@gmail.com.