By Peace Uzenta
What is the way forward? Will the residents of Promise Land group of communities continue to live in perpetual darkness or will darkness be evaded by the presence of light sometime soon?
The past eight months have unveiled a somewhat permanent state of darkness for the residents of Promise Land group of communities, situated in the streets of Arolambo, Oke Aro village, Ogun State.
These people who have been subjected to an epileptic power supply over the years receiving it seasonally are currently faced with no option other than to dwell in darkness.
It all began in August 2024, the community in general experienced concurrent blackouts. After which, followed the repair of the community’s faulty transformer which led to the restoration of electricity on November 1, 2024.
However, the joy of having restored power supply was shortlived as the people woke up to the news of the unsuccessful inability of the IKEDC electricians (NEPA Men as they’re popularly referred) to bring about stable power supply because the just repaired transformer had failed to operate and this time, repairs proved to be difficult because as stated by the electricians, the transformer’s durability had been overstretched.
With the transformer taken away by the NEPA Men and an unknown date of when power will be restored irrespective of the variety of meetings held by the community executives to proffer solutions to the challenging issue, the residents of the different communities are forced to adapt to several inconveniences. These inconveniences include water rationing in individual homes, inevitable purchase of PMS to power electrical appliances, evacuation of houses, Increased rate of illnesses, all of these and more have contributed to a general decrease in the productivity output of the populace. Below are the highlights of interviews conducted with residents of the community.
The residents expressed their ardent displeasure with the electricity issue exclaiming how it had affected household welfarism and business productivity.
Mr Adebola Matthew an Electrician and Mr Tomiwa Obadiah a Barber both stated in their interviews how they spend exorbitantly to purchase PMS in order to power the various appliances in their shops yet it hasn’t been sufficient and has eventually left them with faulty equipments resulting from the lack of usage.
Another resident Mrs Adewale, who stocks Frozen foods for sale exclaimed her grief on how the unavailability of power had brought about the forceful close of this business and her eventual venture into the sales of daily use products in order to earn a living. She expressed how in her bid to aid neighbours with water and power home appliances, she spends more on purchasing PMS which has affected her household welfare.
The gravity of this issue is further expounded after interviewing Mr Kayode a producer of water and Mr Mubarak a hotel owner.
These individuals both expressed how the absence of electricity has negated their business productivity adversely, each exclaimed how they bleed funds on the purchase of PMS as well as the struggle they encounter in paying their staff in order to stay in business yet their returns in comparison to their expenditures are not encouraging. The latter Mr Mubarak further exclaimed on how he had to take up a loan for the solar installation in his hotel to boost its productivity.
A concerned youth of the community (who would like to remain anonymous), highlighted on the increased level of hunger among residents who have lost their jobs or make little returns because of the electricity issue. He further appealed to members of the IKEDC to come to our aide ending with this phrase – #bringbackadejumo’stransformer.
The residents when asked if the issue was likely to be resolved soon enough gave negative feedbacks declaring that no viable solution had been reached so far on the issue.
The latest update so far on this issue discussed in the CDA meetings held on March 29, 2025 was for each house in every community to contribute N51000 for the purchase of a new transformer.
As it stands with no seeming light at the end of the tunnel, the residents of Promise Land group of communities have fragments of hope of enjoying a stable power supply in a long while.
