It's now almost four years now, that residents of some communities in the twin local
government areas of Ona-Ara and Oluyole in Oyo State have totally relied on generators after public power supply
became unavailable.
On
Wednesday last week, residents from one of the affected local
government areas, Ona-Ara, marched to the headquarters of the Ibadan
Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) located on Moshood Abiola Way
to protest being blacked out for such a long period. They chorused to the new
electricity handlers to bring back their light. The spokesman of the
protesters painted a gloomy picture of how the total blackout was
affecting them.
But
the people’s experience will not go away for some time to come. The
manager of the electricity company told them to be patient as a
substation of the defunct Power Holding Company (PHCN) in Olorunsogo,
which was destroyed in the wake of a nationwide protest in 2012 against a
planned removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, was critical
to the return of electricity to their areas. A whooping N131 million
was said to be required to bring the facility back in operation.
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In
the intervening time, some residents of the Muslim area, who shared
their experiences with Saturday Tribune, lamented the effects of the
three-year blackout. Among other things, it was gathered that the
resultant nosedives in social and economic activities in the area have
continued to discourage prospective tenants, home owners and even people
with business concerns from moving in.
Alhaji
Olaniyi Ibitoye, who was, until March 30, the chairman of Ifelodun II
Landlord and Landladies Association, Muslim, said the problem was
initially marked by erratic power supply in 2011 when they would only
experience electricity once in a month before the situation turned into a
total blackout.
Alhaji
Ibitoye said, “The truth is that nobody is helping us. The lack of
electricity for four years now has paralysed our social and economic
activities. The artisans and petty traders are finding it very hard to
survive. Ice block makers are making profits to the detriment of petty
traders here because the ice blocks cannot last long enough to cool as
many pure water sachets and bottles of water and drinks that can
translate into meaningful sale in a day. I know this because my wife is
affected.
“So,
economically, we are suffering, just like in the area of health. The
zero power supply has affected the operations of the private hospitals
within the locality. Even those that have giant generators cannot run on
them 24/7. Sometimes because of heat, people have to make their sick
relations in these hospitals comfortable by blowing air on them with
hand fans or rechargeable fans. We have been subjected to risk of
environment pollution as a result of heavy use of generators, big and
small, around here. An asthma patient is at great risk around here.”
Another
landlord in the area, Alhaji Abdul Hamid Awwal, said the heavy use of
generators in his locality had robbed people of peace. “For instance,
all my tenants have their own generators and sometimes they put them on
at the same time and the noise becomes very unbearable. It is hellish,
to say the least,” he said.
The
medical director of a private hospital in the area, Dr Olasunkanmi
Oyewale, corroborated Alhaji Ibitoye’s claim on the effect of the
blackout on heath care in the area. Dr Oyewale said the electricity
situation was causing the hospital a huge cost of operation and
diminished capacity.
“We
are not talking of irregularity but total absence of power supply in
this area for the past four years. It is a serious issue and nobody
seems ready to help us. As regards our own service, the situation is
telling on us a lot because we have to depend on generator from morning
till around midnight and this costs money. If you want to spread the
cost on the patients, the bill becomes higher and nobody would talk
about the power problem again. They would say the hospital is callous;
that they are billing too much. We spent roughly N60, 000 on fuel alone
every month for the past three years. This is excluding maintenance of
the generators which we use for daytime and night time.
“Besides,
if a patient is brought in the night, after we have put off our
generator, for a case that requires urgent surgical procedure, it is a
pity we won’t be able to put the generator back. We refer such patients.
It is unfortunate that we have to ask patients to go to UCH or
elsewhere for cases which we can handle here.
“It
is especially painful that the people in authority do not seem to
appreciate our situation or even make any statement about it to give us
hope. It is as if nobody cares. It is as if that we are just a set of
animals in the jungle. This is not fair. This is not a small area; we
extend from Olorunsogo, down to Olomi, to Akanran side. It is almost a
town in some other states. So, for an area as big as this not to enjoy
electricity for more than three years and for nobody to be talking about
it or doing something about it is very disheartening. Maybe after 100
years, someone will remember us and put the light back on.
“The
problem is seriously affecting businesses. The artisans are being put
out of work. The welders and technicians that require electricity to
function properly are being prompted to ride okada and they are
sustaining injuries that are capable of rendering them permanently
incapacitated. Last week, one of them fell and broke his spinal cord. He
became paralysed and there is no hope for him. He can’t receive medical
care because he has no money. He was brought and there was no money to
buy even card, not to talk of treatment. We had to give the poor young
man first aid treatment and refer him to UCH. He said there was no money
and he was taken home. I asked him and he said he was a welder but lack
of electricity drove him to riding okada for a living.
“The
people in authority should try and assist. Even if there is no means to
do everything now, they can at least give us hope. Even in some remote
villages, they enjoy light. So, it is absolutely absurd for places in a
whole city like Ibadan not to enjoy power supply in four years. It shows
we are not developing, we are going backward. Maybe the people here
have offended them, I don’t know. Maybe it is a politically-motivated
problem, I don’t know because I am not a politician. There was a time
some PHCN officials brought bill, I said, ‘which bill, we have not had
light for a long period?’ And one of them said, ‘oga, please you have
to pay. If you have us as children at home, won’t you feed us?’ I said
‘if I must feed you at home, then you must be equally useful in the
house.’ How could anyone ask me to pay PHCN for services not rendered?
We remain part of Nigeria. We are part of Oyo State. They should help
us.”
An
artisan, who declined to mention his name, said, “Most of the small
generators you see around, which are what most residents can afford, are
only good for a few hours, and they can’t be used for ironing. These
generators cannot be used the way you would use normal public power. In
fact, the situation is affecting businesses in this area such that
people take jobs, especially ones involving welding, to other places
because they believe welding done with normal electricity is more
quality than one done with generator power. Many tenants have moved to
other places and prospective tenants are thinking twice before coming
here because they can’t cope. It is not advisable to subscribe to these
cable television services around here because there is a limit to which
you can rely on generators to enjoy them. Social life around here has
been rendered virtually non-existent.”
A
commercial printer, who also preferred anonymity, described the power
problem being encountered in the area as a reflection of the general
social disease in the country.
“You
only get to thank God for your life, there is nothing much to celebrate
in this country. I don’t know what our problem is, because abroad, they
hardly use generators. As for my own business, I heaved a sigh of
relief after I opened another shop in Oke-Ado. I have converted this
place to business office where I only meet customers. I have not totally
escaped the situation because I live here. I feel the effect most in
the night when heat becomes unbearable at times like this. Before we go
to bed, we have made it a habit to throw so much water on ourselves to
sustain us through the night because you can’t use air conditioner or
fan – no electricity,” he said.
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