FROM SEGUN OLATUNJI, ABEOKUTA
¤
One of the public amenities people are in dire need of, but in acute short supply across the country is electricity.

The problem of inadequate supply of electricity has be come so intractable that most Nigerians have ironically got used to living in the dark, es pecially at night while those who could afford it now go for power generating sets of all kinds.

Sadly, the power generat ing sets have become death traps for many as their usage has continued to claim many lives. Oftentimes members of an entire household are wiped out overnight in circumstances caused by inhaling and suffocating from deadly fumes from power generating sets.

State governments have continued to make efforts to improve the supply of elec tricity within their domains. Many of them have invested huge funds in various kinds of Independent Power Project (IPP) equipment to give power supply a fillip.

But in Ogun, a state which prides itself as the new hub of industries in the country, a N9billion mini-power plant equipment is rotting and wasting away while citizens and businesses groan under the thick blanket of near-permanent darkness.

Due to inadequate elec tricity supply, most of the artisans and technicians in the state have turned commercial motorcycle riders, while many others resorted to doing menial jobs just to make ends meet.

The elements of weather are already taking their toll on the mini-power plant equipment packaged in about 30 wooden crates and abandoned at the car park of the state secretariat, Oke- Mosan, Abeokuta, since 2011 when the Governor Ibikunle Amosun came into office.

The wooden crates housing the equipment are dilapidated and have become haven for rodents of all kinds. The mini-power plant equipment was purchased by the immediate past admin­istration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

Lack of power has ad versely affected the supply of potable water in the state, including Abeokuta, the capital. The taps have for years run dry and residents resorted to other means to get clean water, because the state water corporation has been somewhat comatose. Inad equate supply of electricity has seriously hampered the operations of the water works as it has become impossible for it to pump water into pipes across the state.

Last Thursday, due to incessant power failure, proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, were delayed for over one hour. Justice Folashade had to apologize to lawyers and litigants for her inability to begin sitting at the normal time of 9:00am, saying that this was due to the inability of the technicians trying to put the court’s generator in order to finish on time. delayed for over one hour. Justice Folashade

Interestingly, however, one of the aban doned mini-power plant equipment installed by the immediate past administration at its twilight in 2011 has since been supplying electricity to the state government secretariat, the Governor’s Office and the Government House in Isale Igbehin. Not only that, the plant also supplies electricity to other key government establishments, while the surplus is also said to be sold to private organizations, including some highbrow privately owned schools in Abeokuta.

Yet, the state government has insisted that the equipment is outdated and would therefore not expend funds on their installation. In actual fact, the equipment has been put up for sale but potential buyers are yet to indicate interest.

Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, however, declined to respond to inquiries by Daily Sun. She neither picked her calls nor replied to text messages sent to her phone between Thursday and Saturday.

But earlier this year, while responding to a question on the abandoned mini-power plant equipment during the occasion of the 2014 Budget Breakdown organized by the Ministry of Budget and Planning, Adeosun stated that the government decided to abandon the N9bil lion electricity equipment because they had become obsolete and too expensive to install:

“When we came into office, we met the power equipment on ground. N9billion has al ready been spent on that equipment, they were asking for additional N5billion. In addition, they wanted N3billion to install it.

“When you want to spend that kind of mon ey, you have to do cost benefit analysis, which we did. We called in some power experts, they looked at the equipment and they said this equipment is about 20 years old. To install it with N3billion, with that money you can buy brand new equipment, far more efficient than that average equipment.

“They said if you have that kind of money, we do not advise you to implement this equip ment. I’m sure you’ve gone past that power plant and seen the plumes of black smoke coming from the power plant. Go to Dan gote’s plant at Ibese, look at the tiny, efficient, quiet power plant and that’s modern technol ogy. So, that’s why we took that decision.

“What we are trying to do is and we’ve told the contractor, look for somebody who can buy this and let us use the money to buy something modern. It is not new equipment, it is used equipment that was sold to us. We’ve already paid N9billion, if you have any buyer, maybe you can help us to advertise.”

Daniel in his reaction said the government’s claim was laughable and mischievous. He spoke through his media aide, Steve Oliyide: “Let me state clearly that those equipment are of the best high quality and standard. This unfortunate decision is in continuation of the mischievous politics of discontinuing all the policies and programmes of the previous administration.

“I will expect that members of the Ogun State House of Assembly will ask to conduct a probe inviting independent experts in the field to assess the equipment. Is it not laugh able and inverted logic that the government of Senator Ibikunle Amosun said it was going to sell the equipment which it claimed are obso lete? My elementary knowledge of marketing -buying and selling- implies that you can only sell what the buyers want to buy. So if the equipment are obsolete, who do you want to sell them to? One would think he would ask to return to the original manufacturers and claim some warrantee. I think it’s time we stopped mischief in political administration for the good of the good people of Ogun State.”

Residents also reacted to the develop ment. A businessman, Mr. John Kilanko, of Obantoko, Abeokuta, said: “I don’t know why we like playing politics with everything in this country. This same government has been using the one installed by their predecessor to generate electricity for their own use and even selling the surplus to privileged private organizations. So, what stops them from in stalling others, instead of allowing them to rot away? Yet, people and businesses are really suffering. It’s not the government or governor who bought them that matters to the ordinary people.”

A civil servant, Femi Balogun: “You can imagine what we do to ourselves in this country. PHCN cannot supply us electricity, yet some people in government feel they are the only ones who deserve to enjoy good things of life. They’ve been enjoying the only one they installed to serve them and even sell to others, as we understand, yet they don’t feel the remaining citizens too should have access to electricity. This is too bad!”

A commercial motorcycle rider, Kazeem Jimoh, said he and many of his colleagues were forced into the business due to the constant power failure: “I used to be a welder. That is the trade I learnt, but since I don’t have that kind of money with which to purchase a generator for my kind of work, I had to close shop and move out to get something else to feed my family.”

A petty trader, Mrs. Yetunde Oloyede, lamented: “I used to have an ice block-making business but since the electricity situation worsened and I cannot afford to continue to fuel my generator because it’s not profitable, I had to quit the business. You can see some of my ice block-making machines out there. Our government should please do whatever they can to give us electricity to do our business.”

Another civil servant, Mr. Wale Odusanmi: “Our governor should also try and provide electricity for us in Ogun. We are happy with the roads, bridges and other infrastructure he has put in place, but electricity supply will crown everything he has been doing since he came into office.”

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=90638

APC how progressive are you

Wasting resources and trading blame to the Federal.



Nigerians behold your enemies. (APC)

Firefire:
APC how progressive are you

Wasting resources and trading blame to the Federal.



Nigerians behold your enemies. (APC)

mr saTANiod,it was bought by pdp government of gbenga daniel and they are to blame...read the article

tobtap:

mr saTANiod,it was bought by pdp government of gbenga daniel and they are to blame...read the article

Bought by PDP Gbenga Daniel and subject to destruction by APC Amosun.

How progressive is APC if they cannot improve on inefficiency of past administration

Nigerians shine your eyes