By Adeniyi Adedeji, Ilorin
Residents of Ola Oluwa community in Ogidi-Oloje area of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, have cried out to the state government to rescue them from perpetual darkness that the lack of electricity has forced on them.
The residents, who spoke through their leaders, told journalists in a statement that their ordeal was as a result of a faulty transformer, which also services three other communities.
The affected communities were: Olayeri Phase II, Alawo and Ajibesin, whose leaders include: Alhaji Abdulkharim Dende; Alhaji Baba Malu, the joint chairman of the communities.
Their grouse was that neither the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, nor the previous administration heeded all the pleas to come to their aids.
The chairman said that there was only one transformer providing electricity to the three communities, adding that over the years, their population had grown, thus overburdening the lobe transformer, leading to its packing up.
He added that in January, 2020, they wrote a letter to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq appealing to him to come to their aid and give them two more transformers for the area.
He disclosed that Olayeri community in particular had over 5,000 inhabitants with over 1,500 completed houses and over 500 under one stage of completion or other.
The spokesmen said, “The old age of the existing transformer coupled with the noticeable expansion of the affected communities and increasing population of the area has put the three communities into constant darkness.”
According to the chairmen, the appeal to the governor for two more transformers, if heeded, would cushion the effect of overloading on the only available transformer serving the three communities.
They added that there were many artisans living in the three communities, who depended on electricity for their businesses, adding that the long power outage was affecting the businesses especially the artisans.
They added, “This is why we, on behalf of the entire communities, are crying loudly to Governor AbdulRazaq to come to our rescue and give us transformers in our area.”
