₦airaland Forum

Emmabyte:
After speaking English you go and connect the light

Lukgaf:
I am deeply pained as I write this.

Honestly, these people take us for granted! Okay, let me explain . Last weekend, I opened my WhatsApp messages and saw a notice from our community leaders in Olooro, Oyo. The message detailed a threat from NEPA/IBEDC: they 'warned' that our community’s electricity line would be removed from the national grid unless we ensured that people paid their bills promptly and those illegally tapping electricity stopped.

I have no issue with communities working together with NEPA to promote accountability, but issuing threats is disgusting honestly.

It should not be our responsibility (consumer) to do this the same it's not proper how we (the people) not NEPA financed the entire infrastructure, from transformers to poles, and even maintenance. These officials do nothing except show up every month to distribute bills and collect money. Bizarre!

In fact, it’s alleged and it's like even the electricity chairman of my former community has said multiple times - that whenever there’s a fault, NEPA will refuse to fix it. It is the community that hire a private engineer to fix it ourselves and that they will even take a bribe before they disconnect the entire light before the private engineer can not initiate such repair. It's infuriating!

And when I challenged them at their office, they have the audacity to say, "Your community is just too impatient".

Impatient? How? Till when?

In many countries of the world, this is not how things work. Utility companies take full responsibility for electricity infrastructure and maintenance. They even communicate with consumers about planned maintenance and expected downtimes.

This is not an isolated issue. My friend’s community in Oyo received the same threat from NEPA. Ironically, I had once joked with Wasiu that I rarely saw their lights on, only for this to happen. What’s worse, these same officials will still bring bills for a service not rendered or conveniently restore power only when they want to distribute bills. Haba!

What is our crime?

I was even more disgusted when I read Dr. Fadare Nureni’s comments on how NEPA has thrown the people of Iseyin into total darkness—simply because they refused to tolerate this injustice.

Is this how we’re going to continue in this country? Why is it so difficult to do things right? And is IBEDC no longer privatized? In every other privatized industry, like telecommunications, I don’t suffer if another customer refuses to pay for their service. If Mr. A doesn’t recharge his Glo data, does that affect my internet connection? Then why should entire communities be punished for defaulters?

Electricity should not be any different honestly.

We have been taken for granted in this country, by the police, at higher institutions (go and read Dr. Moses Udoiso on the madness of transcript collection), in our hospitals, by immigration officers at passport offices, by our so-called security forces, by our government.

Think of any system, and you’ll see Nigerians being shortchanged, forced to compromise, or told to “be patient” in the face of blatant injustice.

Please, what is so difficult about giving every household a prepaid meter—either freely or at a subsidized rate—so that everyone pays for exactly what they use if we are serious? What stops IBEDC from tracking and penalizing electricity thieves themselves? Why should communities be forced to pay for every fault that arises? That is not our responsibility, please!

It’s high time we speak up!

The root cause of this problem is silence. People refuse to speak out, and when someone dares to, they face frustration and backlash. You’ll hear things like, “Ẹ yin fẹ sọ pe ẹ gbọn abi?” (So, you think you’re wise?).

No. This is not about wisdom—it’s about justice.

The elite, especially, must speak up whenever injustice is inflicted on the people. We are not animals. We deserve better. Our government must understand that its primary duty is to protect the interests of the people, not frustrate them. They will be held accountable for their actions, if not in this life, then on the Day of Judgment.

To the good people of Iseyin and Oyo, I stand with you in this struggle. Together, we say NO to injustice.

God bless Iseyin.
God bless Oyo.
God bless Oyo State.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.


Gafari Lukumon

EXOUSIAng:
If you were a shareholder in the distribution company, you will think otherwise and understand better.
I can bet you for free that more than 85% of people in your community dont pay a dime for power.

Its only in Nigeria that people want services they don't pay for.

Nigerians are not paying for power, the distribution companies are surviving on the subsidy.

I can also bet you that there are communities around you that still have up to 18hrs power.

I reside in Nicon town estate, I get 24hrs power except where there is general power outage. They are communities and other estates just around that don't get half of that.

In my VGC residence, power is not as regular as Nicon town but the distribution company have their people running around as soon as you have any power issue....

My point here is these are people who pay bills, Igbokushu is a community in the same neighborhood with Nicon Town but they don't gey up to 10hrs a day.

The distribution companies are not charity organizations. Electricity is expensive, they will focus on their paying customers...

I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE A BUSINESS WHERE CUSTOMERS DONT PAY, YOU WILL STOP SUPPLY.

EXOUSIAng:
If you were a shareholder in the distribution company, you will think otherwise and understand better.
I can bet you for free that more than 85% of people in your community dont pay a dime for power.

Its only in Nigeria that people want services they don't pay for.

Nigerians are not paying for power, the distribution companies are surviving on the subsidy.

I can also bet you that there are communities around you that still have up to 18hrs power.

I reside in Nicon town estate, I get 24hrs power except where there is general power outage. They are communities and other estates just around that don't get half of that.

In my VGC residence, power is not as regular as Nicon town but the distribution company have their people running around as soon as you have any power issue....

My point here is these are people who pay bills, Igbokushu is a community in the same neighborhood with Nicon Town but they don't gey up to 10hrs a day.

The distribution companies are not charity organizations. Electricity is expensive, they will focus on their paying customers...

I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE A BUSINESS WHERE CUSTOMERS DONT PAY, YOU WILL STOP SUPPLY.

Lukgaf:
I am deeply pained as I write this.

Honestly, these people take us for granted! Okay, let me explain . Last weekend, I opened my WhatsApp messages and saw a notice from our community leaders in Olooro, Oyo. The message detailed a threat from NEPA/IBEDC: they 'warned' that our community’s electricity line would be removed from the national grid unless we ensured that people paid their bills promptly and those illegally tapping electricity stopped.

I have no issue with communities working together with NEPA to promote accountability, but issuing threats is disgusting honestly.

It should not be our responsibility (consumer) to do this the same it's not proper how we (the people) not NEPA financed the entire infrastructure, from transformers to poles, and even maintenance. These officials do nothing except show up every month to distribute bills and collect money. Bizarre!

In fact, it’s alleged and it's like even the electricity chairman of my former community has said multiple times - that whenever there’s a fault, NEPA will refuse to fix it. It is the community that hire a private engineer to fix it ourselves and that they will even take a bribe before they disconnect the entire light before the private engineer can not initiate such repair. It's infuriating!

And when I challenged them at their office, they have the audacity to say, "Your community is just too impatient".

Impatient? How? Till when?

In many countries of the world, this is not how things work. Utility companies take full responsibility for electricity infrastructure and maintenance. They even communicate with consumers about planned maintenance and expected downtimes.

This is not an isolated issue. My friend’s community in Oyo received the same threat from NEPA. Ironically, I had once joked with Wasiu that I rarely saw their lights on, only for this to happen. What’s worse, these same officials will still bring bills for a service not rendered or conveniently restore power only when they want to distribute bills. Haba!

What is our crime?

I was even more disgusted when I read Dr. Fadare Nureni’s comments on how NEPA has thrown the people of Iseyin into total darkness—simply because they refused to tolerate this injustice.

Is this how we’re going to continue in this country? Why is it so difficult to do things right? And is IBEDC no longer privatized? In every other privatized industry, like telecommunications, I don’t suffer if another customer refuses to pay for their service. If Mr. A doesn’t recharge his Glo data, does that affect my internet connection? Then why should entire communities be punished for defaulters?

Electricity should not be any different honestly.

We have been taken for granted in this country, by the police, at higher institutions (go and read Dr. Moses Udoiso on the madness of transcript collection), in our hospitals, by immigration officers at passport offices, by our so-called security forces, by our government.

Think of any system, and you’ll see Nigerians being shortchanged, forced to compromise, or told to “be patient” in the face of blatant injustice.

Please, what is so difficult about giving every household a prepaid meter—either freely or at a subsidized rate—so that everyone pays for exactly what they use if we are serious? What stops IBEDC from tracking and penalizing electricity thieves themselves? Why should communities be forced to pay for every fault that arises? That is not our responsibility, please!

It’s high time we speak up!

The root cause of this problem is silence. People refuse to speak out, and when someone dares to, they face frustration and backlash. You’ll hear things like, “Ẹ yin fẹ sọ pe ẹ gbọn abi?” (So, you think you’re wise?).

No. This is not about wisdom—it’s about justice.

The elite, especially, must speak up whenever injustice is inflicted on the people. We are not animals. We deserve better. Our government must understand that its primary duty is to protect the interests of the people, not frustrate them. They will be held accountable for their actions, if not in this life, then on the Day of Judgment.

To the good people of Iseyin and Oyo, I stand with you in this struggle. Together, we say NO to injustice.

God bless Iseyin.
God bless Oyo.
God bless Oyo State.
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.


Gafari Lukumon

EXOUSIAng:
If you were a shareholder in the distribution company, you will think otherwise and understand better.
I can bet you for free that more than 85% of people in your community dont pay a dime for power.

Its only in Nigeria that people want services they don't pay for.

Nigerians are not paying for power, the distribution companies are surviving on the subsidy.

I can also bet you that there are communities around you that still have up to 18hrs power.

I reside in Nicon town estate, I get 24hrs power except where there is general power outage. They are communities and other estates just around that don't get half of that.

In my VGC residence, power is not as regular as Nicon town but the distribution company have their people running around as soon as you have any power issue....

My point here is these are people who pay bills, Igbokushu is a community in the same neighborhood with Nicon Town but they don't gey up to 10hrs a day.

The distribution companies are not charity organizations. Electricity is expensive, they will focus on their paying customers...

I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE A BUSINESS WHERE CUSTOMERS DONT PAY, YOU WILL STOP SUPPLY.

DeOTR:
If you bill people for service not renderred, don't expect payment. How is the responsibility of the customers to ensure other consumers don't bypass? Are you OK?

EXOUSIAng:
If you were a shareholder in the distribution company, you will think otherwise and understand better.
I can bet you for free that more than 85% of people in your community dont pay a dime for power.

Its only in Nigeria that people want services they don't pay for.

Nigerians are not paying for power, the distribution companies are surviving on the subsidy.

I can also bet you that there are communities around you that still have up to 18hrs power.

I reside in Nicon town estate, I get 24hrs power except where there is general power outage. They are communities and other estates just around that don't get half of that.

In my VGC residence, power is not as regular as Nicon town but the distribution company have their people running around as soon as you have any power issue....

My point here is these are people who pay bills, Igbokushu is a community in the same neighborhood with Nicon Town but they don't gey up to 10hrs a day.

The distribution companies are not charity organizations. Electricity is expensive, they will focus on their paying customers...

I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE A BUSINESS WHERE CUSTOMERS DONT PAY, YOU WILL STOP SUPPLY.

SmartyPants:
This is totally off point. The writer neve aid they shouldn't disconnect the power for non paying customers! He said do not disconnect the entire community when there are paying customers therein!

How do you take all the time to type all of that without taking a few minutes to read the OP?!

Xisnin:
If NEPA threatens you with a cutoff, it means your community contributes very little
to NEPA's purse in comparison with its population.

That means supplying light to your community is unprofitable for IBEDC.

lonelydora:
Skull mining increases with darkness o.