Why Nigerians are left in the dark

Catriona Davies for CNN

Surgeons operating with kerosene lanterns and accident victims waiting in dark hospital corridors because there's no light to see their injuries; these are among the realities of life during Nigeria's long power outages, according to a group campaigning to improve electricity supply.

Nigeria, the world's seventh largest exporter of oil, has suffered from disruptions to its power supply for decades, and successive governments have struggled to improve the situation.

President Goodluck Jonathan recently launched a strategy that he hopes will bring reliable power to millions of Nigerians.

Amara Nwankpa, a 32-year-old IT consultant who lives in Abuja, set up the website Light Up Nigeria to raise awareness of the power problems and encourage people to report disruptions to their supply.

Nwankpa said: "We have had power problems for as long as I can remember; the best part of three decades.

"Less than half the population has access to grid electricity and those who do typically have power for nine or 10 hours a day, but sometimes go for three or four days with no power at all."

Those who can afford it use generators, but these are costly for individuals and businesses. Nwankpa estimated many householders spend $3,000 to $5,000 a year on fuel for their generators.

A report by the Energy Commission of Nigeria in 2008 estimated that householders spent 796.4 billion naira ($5.1 bn) a year on self-generation.

Nwankpa added: "The small things that affect our lives day to day are that many nights there are no lights to fix dinner, you lose power half way through a haircut, the television goes off in the middle of your favorite football match and there is the noise of generators everywhere."

Industry expert and engineer D.J. Obadote wrote in a report last year that only 10 percent of the rural communities, and 40 percent of the population as a whole, has access to electricity.

In it he said: "Nigeria's economy has been described as a Diesel Generator Economy and small and medium scale businesses incur extremely high overhead cost maintaining their expensive -- economically, environmentally and healthwise -- fossil fuel-powered generators."

In August this year, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan unveiled a Power Sector Road Map aimed at ending the chronic shortages.