Residents Groan as Power Outage Paralyses Ogun Communities

Many communities in Ogun State, particularly Abeokuta and Sagamu areas, have been without electricity supply for close to one month, media investigations have revealed.

The situation is also worsened in Abeokuta, the state capital, as water scarcity has left majority of the residents searching endlessly for water as a result of the blackout.

An official of the state Water Corporation, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the scarcity of water to lack of electricity supply to power the station pumping machine.

According to the official, “Governor Dapo Abiodun has intervened by replacing our damaged electric transformer, but when there is no power generation, there is little we can achieve through the intervention of our generating set, particularly considering that we have a large population of water consumers.”

Lamenting the lingering state of power failure in Abeokuta, a welder, Mr. Jimoh Adekunle, said: “I have abandoned my job and taken to commercial motorcycling to survive.”

Speaking too, a bar owner in Shaje area of the community, Mrs. Silifat Balogun, said the electricity challenge had virtually run her out of business, as “my customers have been complaining bitterly of not getting cold beer to drink in the last one month.”

But explaining why most parts of Ogun State have been without power supply, the Head, Public Relations Unit of the Ibadan Distribution Company (IBDC) which oversees power supplies to Oyo, Ogun and Osun States, Mrs. Busola Tunwase, said the problems were beyond her office to resolve at the moment.

According to her, “A fire outbreak that gutted our Ayede sub-station last month affected supplies to many communities in not only Ogun State but in Oyo and Osun States also.

“Besides, there is shortage of gas supply nationwide, which has drastically affected the supply rate of power to communities.

“It is what the generating companies (Genco) give to us that we distribute to our customers, and if they do not generate enough power, we can’t supply more than what we have.”

The IBDC spokesperson, however, said moves were being made to overcome the challenges.