Corruption Leaves Nigeria in the Dark

Deji Medi, 27, operates a decades-old printing press in Lagos, Nigeria Wednesday Feb. 7, 2007. Nigeria claims ownership of one of the world's great energy reserves, but corruption and mismanagement leave Africa's oil giant chronically short of electricity. Businesses and walled residential compounds run costly diesel generators, while the vast majority of Nigeria's 140 million people live their lives in near-perpetual gloom. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba) (Sunday Alamba - AP)

Across the energy sector in Nigeria, which produces some 2 million barrels of crude oil per day, shortages are common. Nigerians say this is emblematic of their country's defining paradox: Such great potential riches, such extensive poverty.

After years of neglect, many Nigerian oil refineries are rusting hulks, with little refining capacity. One of the world's biggest oil producers must import most of its gasoline, which is sold at a deeply subsidized price.

But demand frequently outstrips supply, leaving motorists parked in fuel lines that can last all day. Unscrupulous gas station owners buy subsidized gasoline and ship it to other countries, where it's sold for huge profits.

Attempts to end the subsidies _ which Nigerians view as one of the only benefits derived from a government that fails to provide clean water, decent health care, streetlights and many other public services _ have caused riots.

Nigerians, in the end, are forced fend for themselves. And the lack of electricity is particularly rankling for many, for without it they say they're living a preindustrial existence.

"Light is a general thing. It makes jobs and when it's not there, we're useless," says Alfred Elegbe, a television repairman in a Lagos slum.

The 35-year-old father of three estimates he could earn about $200 per month fixing televisions and DVD players if there was reliable electricity. He now clears only about $30.

At night, Nigerians say, their children must study by candle or kerosene-lamp light. The heat and motionless air makes it difficult to sleep. Without electricity, water can't be pumped through taps. Meat spoils in refrigerators. There's little entertainment.

"When the lights go, everything becomes so quiet," says Elegbe. "It's so boring."

When the power does come on, Nigerians spring into action, joining the modern world in a flash. They connect to the Internet and watch foreign television and movies, looking closely to see what life is like elsewhere.

Air conditioners hum, fans turn and businesses without diesel generators throw open their doors for business.

Deji Medi, 27, operates a decades-old printing press that he says was shipped to Nigeria years ago from Germany. Electrical current turns the machine into a dynamo of arms and belts, churning out numbered receipts for a landlord.

Medi reckons a computer and laser printer could probably do the job faster, but without a steady source of power, he can't justify the investment.

"This old machine, it doesn't work without electricity," he said. "Of course, the computers, they don't work either."