Nigeria is facing a fuel crisis as the government has removed the subsidy that kept petrol prices low for decades. Many Nigerians are struggling to afford petrol for their cars and generators, which they rely on for electricity due to the poor state of the national grid.
However, some Nigerians have found a creative way to cope with the situation. They have modified their petrol generators to run on cooking gas, which they claim is cheaper and cleaner than petrol.
One of them is a young inventor who goes by the name @kingsolya on TikTok. He shared a video of his gas-powered generator, which he connected to a 2kg gas cylinder.
He said that the cylinder could power his generator for 12 hours, and that he could easily switch back to petrol if he wanted to.
He also showed how he attached a hose from the gas cylinder to the carburetor of his generator, and how he kept the fuel tank intact for aesthetic purposes. He said that he was proud of his innovation and that he wanted to share it with the world.
His video went viral on TikTok, attracting millions of views and thousands of comments. Many people praised him for his ingenuity and resourcefulness. They called him “The Generator Man” and “The Gas Guru”. They asked him how they could get his generator or make their own.
Fuel Subsidu Removal: Nigerians seen powering their generators with cooking gas pic.twitter.com/Ammf1I8Tdp
— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) June 8, 2023
But not everyone was impressed by his invention. Some people criticized him for wasting cooking gas, which they said was meant for cooking and heating. They accused him of being selfish and irresponsible. They said he was endangering the environment and the economy.
They also warned him that he was violating the government’s policy of removing the fuel subsidy . They said that the government wanted Nigerians to pay more for petrol, not less, and that he was undermining their efforts. They said that he could face legal consequences for his actions.
The inventor was surprised by the negative reactions. He did not understand why people were angry with him. He thought that he was helping Nigerians by providing them with a cheaper and cleaner alternative to petrol. He thought that he was doing something good for the country.
He decided to ignore the haters and focus on the positive feedback. He continued to work on improving his generator and making more videos about it. He also started selling his generator to interested customers, who were willing to pay him well for it.
He became famous and wealthy. He moved to a bigger workshop and hired some assistants. He expanded his business and created more gas-powered products, such as motorcycles, tricycles, boats, and even planes. He became known as “The Generator Man” all over Nigeria.
He also became a target for the government. The government saw him as a threat to their plan of removing the fuel subsidy and increasing the price of petrol . They saw him as a rebel who was encouraging Nigerians to resist their policy.
They decided to stop him by any means necessary. They sent agents to spy on him, sabotage his products, harass his customers, and intimidate his workers. They also tried to arrest him, but he managed to evade them.
He realized that he was in danger. He decided to go into hiding, but not before making one last video for his fans. In the video, he explained why he had created his generator and why he believed that gas was better than petrol. He also urged Nigerians to stand up for their rights and demand affordable and clean energy from the government.
He ended the video with a message of hope: “Don’t let them silence you. Don’t let them control you. Don’t let them take away your freedom. You have the power to change Nigeria for the better. You are the generator man.”
