My attention has been drawn to a recent publication to the effect that residents of Osanyilusi Quarters, Oshokoti Layout, Akure, Ondo State have accused Governor Akeredolu of promising to commission a transformer in my community but that he hasn’t fulfilled his promise.
One, it must be stated that I am Akinlolu Samuel Oluwaseun(The youth coordinator). I did not grant the so-called interview. The Seun mentioned in the interview is not me and I do not know the individual on our street.
That said, it is important that I now go to the meat of the matter. First, I consider the attack on the governor as something fuelled by sheer ignorance. Rather, the governor should be hailed as a hero. The governor assured us that he would get us a brand new transformer within two weeks.
However, the transformer was delivered in under 24 hours.
Because the community wanted to maximize the huge capacity of the new transformer, a site was chosen which was at an equidistance from the various communities.
This meant that the government had to build an entirely new substation and distribution infrastructure over a relatively long distance.
Afterward, the governor had to now apply for Benin Electricity Distribution Company(BEDC) to connect the transformer. As one of the foremost youth leaders in the community, it was my duty to follow up closely with agencies of the state government.
The Benin Disco (BEDC) whose duty is to buy and install the transformer in the first instance frustrated the connection to the grid. It delayed and wasted time. In the process, some of the cables were vandalized and stolen.
The community had to come up with strategies to protect the transformer and other equipment.
We have since discovered that the Ondo State government does not have the power to connect the transformer to the grid. Only BEDC does.
Recently, Ondo State government was to sue the Benin Electricity Distribution Company(BEDC) for failing to connect 32 transformer substations in different communities in the state.
Our transformwer at Osukoti is one of these transofmers. I know because we have not stopped putting pressure on all those who matter.
So, our plea is to the Benin Disco to connect our transformer to the grid without delay. Any further waste of time will only cause the equipment to degenerate.
The state government should assist the communities involved to sue them if they do not do the needful.