Everybody knows and even babies know that Nigeria has a power problem!

The shout: “Up Nepa!” has been passed from generation to generation till today even when NEPA has changed its named  to PHCN and to DISCO yet Nigerians are still dancing with darkness!

  So what is new?

What is there to write about the power situation in a country: where every private and business premises has its own Independent Power Plant-Generators!; where its citizens either sleep in darkness or sleep with noise!; where barbing saloons, offices, churches, restaurants and even Banking halls have become community phone charging centres! ; where it is foolish to own a phone without buying a power bank; and where one would wish that Catholics who, every sunday say a #prayer for Nigeria-in-Distress would add another prayer – a prayer for Nigeria-in-Darkness!

Nigeria is a country with so many power problems and the lack of electricity is just one of them! Nigerian’s power problem goes beyond its energy and electricity crisis! There are those who believe that POWER -Political Power! -quest for it and or lack of it-or misuse and abuse of it-is at the root of most of the country’s woes! Powerful politicians and powerless citizens! A topic for another day!

But as if the problem of lack of electricity is not enough, Nigerians, especially those in major cities and urban centres, are increasingly grappling with another form of energy crisis! It would appear that Nigerian men just like the country have stated experiencing regular power failure.  Fatigue- both real and imagined! Recession-induced Stress, Poor Nutrition, inadequate sleep and rest have resulted in many Nigerian men requiring alternative sources of power!

Cometh the problem; cometh the solution: Energy Drinks!

What used to be the exclusive preserve of night clubbers, long distance drivers and midnight readers has now become a constant companion of the common man! In the beginning there was Power Horse and Redbull, now 1001 brands are marketed in the country. Of course the consumption of energy drinks is a global phenomenon. And Redbull is the global leader selling over 5.9billion cans in 2015.

Expectedly, proponents and opponents are at loggerheads over the health benefits and dangers of energy drinks depending of course on who paid the piper! Some consider energy drinks as simply caffeine drinks on steroids with sugar and caffeine levels that are dangerous and addictive but proponents dispute this, claiming that coca cola and coffee have more caffeine levels than energy drinks while others refer to energy drinks as “functional beverages with performance enhancing substances.

And it  is this” performance” enhancing quality that appears to the selling point and attraction driving the craze for energy drinks.

Performance, energy and stamina at work, at play and now increasingly at home, where men seem to believe that they need to regularly recharge their batteries with these energy drinks. And ofcouse foreign producers of energy drinks are there to oblige and entice them with their suggestive product names and shrewd seductive branding.

Isnt a powerful Horse a stud?

No doubt a REDBULL  or a TIGER would help release the animal in You.

Most men surely need an energy BOOSTER.
And like we all  know the OtherRoom for some people is often a  war room where they need loaded guns and there is a BULLET for that purpose!

And since consumers have a habit of mixing Achohol and energy drinks, producers have also stepped in to market premixed brands so the men can conserve their energy and focus on the work at hand.

So  energy drinks are just simply performance enhancing drugs!

Was it me that asked: “Why is performance enhancing drugs banned in sports and allowed in the” OtherRoom?”

Are you asking me? what do I know!

Now local producers have flooded the market with their own range of alcoholic and herbal energy drinks with wild claims about the  efficacy of their concoctions! Some claims to supply instant power and stamina while other say they can guarantee constant and longlasting power! And there is one for every one and for every price! Pocket-sized packs abound. Some with eye popping levels of Alcohol!!!!Hopefully, these will not generate too much current and voltage and ” blow” men’s transformers!!

So as Nigeria strives to find a lasting solution to its power and energy crisis, its men seem to have found theirs, one hopes that this solution will not end up creating a bigger health crisis!.  lately there appear to be increasing reports of men dying ” in medias res”  -Any link? Is NAFDACis  paying any attention to this?

But no matter what anyone would think or say about energy drinks, I am positive that they will all agree that truly the country and its men truly need…

positive energy!