Business owners and residents have been thrown into blackout following the electricity transformer which developed fault over six weeks ago in Anaye and Oke-Abuja communities of Iragbiji, Osun State.
The lingering situation was said to have impacted lives and smooth running of business activities in the two communities where Anaye market – one of the business hubs serving Iragbiji town and its neighboring communities – is situated.
Adebayo Akeem, whose company manufactures cooking oil in the area, said the transformer has not only kept him out of business but affected his relationship with banking institutions he works with.
He stated that the situation became difficult for his business because he can only make profit depending on electricity from the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), adding that it is expensive for his business to run on diesel fuel at the moment.
“It’s over two months ago now. We went to meet with the NEPA (now IBEDC), but they said they had no power to repair it nor restore electricity unless we can pay for repair ourselves,” he said.
Continuing, he said the officials at the electricity company contacted an engineer for them who demanded a sum of N1 million for the repair, adding that their inability to gather the money is making the time difficult for many people and businesses in the communities.
Just like Adebayo, another shop owner, Adeyemi Saheed, told our correspondent that the only option remaining for them was to beg for a new transformer, adding that the faulty one has been gulping money from the two communities since 2018.
Adeyemi, while speaking on the effect of the current blackout on his business, said he is one among many shop owners who were just coming to work, to avert closing down but has no stock in trade due to lack of electricity.
Ms. Funke Ejalonibu was among those worst hit by the situation. Her computer center and ice water business was also impacted. Speaking with Tribune Online, she explained how the situation made her lose her longtime customers.
“That time it became faulty was when we were printing examination questions for private schools. But because we had to switch to generator for printing and you know the price of fuel now, immediately we tell them the price per copy, they leave,” she lamented.
‘We’ve repaired it several times. It’s aged’, says Community head
Baale Kola Alao, the community head of Anaye community, who spoke on the concerted efforts to restore electricity for the two communities, also corroborated how the ‘aged’ electricity transformer has been gulping money from the communities for a long time.
He stated that lots of money had been spent to repair it several times in the past, noting that the community spent over N400,000 less than a year ago when it was last repaired.
“The money we spent last time was over N400,000. They (IBEDC) took it to Offa to repair and brought it back after two weeks.
“Since then, it’s never been the same again. We repaired it again after that. Our prayer is to see someone who will buy another one for us,” he said.
According to him, the blackout in the community has forced many people who depend largely on electricity out of business, adding however, that the situation may persist for a long time as the two communities are still finding it difficult to gather the required amount of money for the repair.
He added, “Since we’ve been going around, we’ve not gathered up to N300,000. When are we going to gather N1 million? They said until we gather it. But what do we know about it? There’s no NEPA among us.”
The community would only have rest of mind on the issue of electricity until they see someone who would volunteer to assist them with a brand new transformer, he continued.
An official of the IBEDC who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity said a letter of complaints had been sent to their head office in Ibadan.
Asked on why the company was not responsible for the repair, she said the communities were told to wait for the IBEDC but volunteered to look for money for the repair so as to swift restoration of electricity in the area.
