70 Years After, Electricity is Reshaping Daily Life in Damakusa

Peter Uzoho narrates how the arrival of a solar-powered mini-grid under the Rural Electrification Agency’s (REA) Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up project is beginning to change both commercial activity and daily life in Damakusa community.

For generations, Damakusa, a rural community in Yangoji, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, lived beyond the reach of electricity. Darkness shaped when businesses closed, how families cooked, when children studied and how far local enterprise could grow. Today, that reality is beginning to change. As reliable electricity powers homes, businesses and agriculture for the first time in more than 70 years, the community is discovering that the real value of electricity lies not only in lighting homes but in expanding opportunity. THISDAY visited Damakusa to examine how access to electricity is beginning to reshape livelihoods, productivity and hopes for the future.

Vivian used to wrap her drinks in bowls of cold water. It was the only way she knew to keep them cool enough to sell in the heat of northern Nigeria. The method barely worked, her profits were thin and by nightfall her small shop was shut like every other business in Damakusa Community, Yangoji, Kwali Area Council. After dark, the community in FCT simply ceased.

That pattern lasted more than 70 years.

Today, Vivian owns a refrigerator. Her drinks stay cold without effort. Her shop stays open into the evening drawing customers who were once deterred by darkness. Since electricity arrived, her income has grown enough for her to purchase land within the community, an achievement she describes plainly as something she could not have imagined before.

Like many unserved communities across the country, daily life in Damakusa was organised around the absence of power. Once evening arrived, businesses closed, movement reduced significantly and households relied on kerosene lamps, torchlights and firewood for lighting.

But the arrival of a solar-powered mini-grid under the Rural Electrification Agency’s (REA) Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) project is beginning to change both commercial activity and daily life within the community.

Launched in 2024, the DARES project is designed to accelerate electricity access across Nigeria through decentralized renewable energy solutions, particularly in unserved and underserved communities. In Damakusa, the intervention takes the form of a 200kW solar hybrid mini-grid developed by Prado Power Limited. 

The mini grid now delivers reliable electricity to more than 5,000 beneficiaries, including households, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), commercial outlets, agro-processing hubs and public facilities, marking the end of more than seven decades without electricity in the community.

The intervention is increasingly being viewed by residents not simply as an electrification project but as infrastructure capable of supporting productivity, enterprise development and local economic growth. 

While discussions around electricity access in Nigeria often focus on generation figures, transmission constraints and national grid performance, the transformation in Damakusa is proof of the immediate economic vitality unlocked when a community gains reliable power. Across Nigeria, decentralized renewable energy is rapidly shifting from an alternative solution to a primary driver of rural development, offering an efficient, scalable way to energise economic hubs far beyond the reach of traditional grid expansion. 

“Since I was born, our community has lived completely without electricity and I am well over 70 years old,” said His Royal Highness Zaman Suleiman, King of Damakusa. “People depended on kerosene lamps, torches and firewood.” 

At night, everywhere was dark and movement was difficult.” He said the situation is however different today as the community has become the envy of surrounding communities. “Recently, at a meeting, other community leaders were asking me how they could also access solar electricity,” the King added.

According to him, residents had heard discussions about electrification projects for several years before the mini-grid eventually became operational. 

“At some point, many people stopped believing it would happen because it took many years,” he added. “But when the electricity was finally switched on, there was celebration throughout the community.” 

While the arrival of electricity generated excitement among residents, the more significant impact has gradually emerged through changes in local economic activity.

Before electrification, most businesses within the community operated under severe limitations. Small traders could not preserve perishable goods, artisans struggled to use equipment requiring power supply and productive activities rarely extended beyond sunset.

Barbers who previously travelled outside the community to charge clippers now operate functioning salons locally. Small shop owners remain open later into the evening while households spend less on kerosene and commercial charging services. 

Quantitatively, the shift is visible in business operations: Vivian Cletus used to sell about five cartons of soft drinks, which lasted almost a week. Now, she sells around 20 cartons in less than a week, a fourfold increase in volume that has transformed what was once modest provisions stall into a thriving business. She also keeps her shop open longer from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and has hired an assistant because more customers now come in.

In practical terms, electricity has extended productive hours within the local economy.

For many residents, this shift is particularly important because economic opportunities within rural communities are often constrained by limited infrastructure.

Agriculture, which remains the dominant source of livelihood within Damakusa, is also beginning to experience the effects of electricity access.

At a local agro-processing hub established in the community to aid agricultural productivity and value addition, electricity now powers milling and processing equipment used for grain, rice, tomatoes, and pepper. 

The implications extend beyond convenience.

Before electrification, farmers largely sold produce in raw form, often at lower prices and with significant post-harvest losses due to limited preservation options. Processing agricultural products within the community was difficult because of the absence of power infrastructure and equipment to support local production and storage.

With electricity now supporting local processing, farmers are beginning to retain more value within the community itself. Tomatoes and pepper can now be processed into paste reducing spoilage while grain milling and rice processing can take place locally rather than outside the community. 

Community leaders also linked electricity access to improvements in security within Damakusa. Before the installation of the mini-grid, residents said darkness contributed to theft and restricted movement at night. 

“One of the major problems before now was insecurity,” says King Suleiman. “People used darkness to steal goats, chickens and other property because there was no visibility.” According to him, the situation has improved significantly since the community became illuminated at night.

“Now everywhere is bright and people can move more freely because criminals can no longer hide easily in darkness,” he added. 

The social impact has also become visible in education and household welfare. Children who previously relied on kerosene lamps and torchlights now study under electric lighting at night, while electrically powered borehole water systems have improved access to clean water within the community. 

The solar powered borehole now running in Damakusa is a direct product of the mini-grid’s arrival. Before, residents depended on distant water sources daily. For King Suleiman, this has been among the most meaningful developments since the project was developed. “The electricity has not just brought us light,” he noted. “It has brought us water. And water changes everything for a community.”

Christiana Emmanuel, a pastor’s wife in Tunga Sarki, described the change in household: “Before the light came, everywhere was dark and we had to use torches even to cook and do house work. Now with the light, I cook at any time, charge our phones at home and carry out our activities at night without stress.”

For residents, these changes have contributed to a growing perception that the community is gradually becoming more connected to wider development opportunities.

According to the community leader, many educated residents and workers previously left Damakusa because living conditions were difficult without electricity. However, the availability of power is beginning to change how residents think about the future of the area.

“We now believe businesses can come here and development can increase,” said David Gadzama, a community member. “Even people who left before may start returning because electricity is now available.” 

Damakusa’s experience shows how decentralised renewable energy projects are increasingly being viewed as tools for supporting local economies, improving livelihoods and expanding productive activities outside the national grid.

For policymakers and development institutions, the case also reinforces arguments that electricity access in rural communities should not be measured solely by the number of connections delivered but by the extent to which power supply supports enterprise, agriculture and local economic activity.

In Damakusa, after more than 70 years in darkness, businesses now remain open beyond sunset, agro-processing is expanding and households are adjusting to a different rhythm of daily life. It is gradually becoming part of the economic foundation on which residents hope to build a different future.