Alexander Brown Hall arguably is one of those residential buildings in Nigeria which enjoy considerable stable power supply, a minimum of about 20 hours on most days. This is good when compared to an average of 4 hours in most parts of the country. However good this may sound, there are critical times when it develops fault and the hall is thrown into utter darkness. The generator provided for the hall to salvage at such situations has proven to be more of dissapointment with it litany of unending faults.
A recurrent example is the power outage that occurs constantly few days to the beginning of every major professional examination when light is of utmost priority in preparation for the exams. There has always been power outage. This is no longer regarded as a coincidence, it’s reaching a level of certainty.
On an average day when the power supply is cut, it is usually restored in minutes. When the power outage of yesterday morning occured, little did Brownites know they were in for a long episode of darkness. Worry began after about six hours of no flash of light, when phones and other gadgets started showing the ‘low battery alert ‘.
The fear of everyone was confirmed when a broadcast message was released by the hall executives about 5pm. “This is to inform you that a major fault has been detected in the electrical system of the hall. Based on some evaluations,there will not be light in the hall for about 72hours before it is finally fixed.
Also the large generator has been faulty for some weeks now. All efforts to get it fixed have been proven futile, but we do hope to get it repaired before the end of this week”, the statement read. The Maintenance Unit of the hospital subsequently disconnected the hall from the power grid to prevent an explosion. The hall transformer requires a change as it becomes damaged very often nowadays warranting repairs always. The Hall Chairman, Mr Folajomi Isa however said it was not in his plans to pursue getting a new transformer for the hall as it requires a lot of work and finances beyond the hall executives.
According to Isa, the Maintenance Unit of the University was notified but is yet to respond till the filing of this report. On further inspection today by the Maintenance Unit of the College, a unit different from that of the University, it was noticed that the problem was a minor fault which could be easily rectified. The fault has thus been resolved and the hall reconnected to the hospital grid.
About the generator, it is quite notorious for its recurrent breakdown. It therefore did not come as a surprise when it was said to be faulty yesterday, a time when it was much needed. It’s repair is proving a herculean task as according to Isa, the electrician who repairs it has been unreachable for the past three weeks. Changing him however is not yet an option as he was recruited by one of the assistant hall wardens whose name will be left anonymous. Till the electrician can be reached, Brownites would not be able to have their 3 hours per day of generator when the electrical system of the hall becomes faulty again, which can be unsurprisingly, next week!
