Oyo State governor, Mr. Seyi Makinde, on Friday, 6 December, 2024 inaugurated a hybrid power plant, an independent private-sector-driven project in Ibadan, the state capital thereby making good his power promise. SAM NWAOKO examines people’s thoughts on the project and what they make of it.
In his time as the governor of oil-rich Rivers State, Dr Peter Odili always heard and never discouraged a mantra the women of the state created for him. It was a common singsong during his administration. In singing his exploits as their political leader and the various cognomens drawn from his administration’s performance, the women would, in their conviviality, chant that “Odilina talk-na-do” governor. The governor they referred to as ‘talk-na-do’ would acknowledge this with waves of the hand and smiles. Talk-na-do was the mantra and it is the pidgin language for ‘a promise keeper’.
Being a ‘talk-na-do’ governor suits the inauguration of an independent hybrid power plant by the governor of Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde, on Friday, 6 December, 2024, in Ibadan.
Governor Seyi Makinde had said that Oyo State under his leadership would be the first to start and complete independent power project in the country. That was the talk. The ‘do’ was witnessed on Friday, December 6, 2024 when he inaugurated the Phase 1 of the 11MW Ibadan Hybrid Power Plant, (IBHP) on December 6. With the coming on stream of the power plant, he has delivered on his promise and set Oyo State on the path to power independence.
It was a project many had thought would end up becoming one of those free political promises many politicians drop during speeches just to draw a generous applause. This is because many Nigerians Saturday Tribune asked about the Oyo State power plant, said they actually did not count it as feasible or realistic. In fact, many of the respondents to Saturday Tribune days after the project came on stream said they had forgotten about the plan by Governor Makinde to make an independent power plant a reality during the life of his administration in the state.
Makinde said the hybrid power facility combines solar and gas energy, which will enhance the state’s power supply, reduce energy cost, and promote environmental sustainability. In addition, he said the power project was private sector-driven based on Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model. The governor announced that it would supply electricity to the state government secretariat including the state House of Assembly, the State Hospital Ring Road (New Adeoyo) and the Adeoyo State Hospital among others.
The usefulness of the plant is an open book. But the governor highlighted some of them, saying, “The completion of the Phase 1 of the power project would serve to deliver uninterrupted power to critical infrastructure which also includes 12 different healthcare facilities, a sports complex, judicial complexes, and some selected schools.”
He added that the hybrid power system would not only boost power supply to industrial concerns and households, but would also “contribute to reducing the carbon footprint by utilizing renewable sources of energy, aligning with global efforts to combat climate change.” These are in addition to the fact that the project would also enhance safety and visibility as well as boost energy reliability and sustainability in the state.
According to Governor Makinde, the power project would serve as a model to follow in Nigeria. “This is the first phase of a project that I believe would serve as the fulcrum that is pivotal to the future development of our dear state. To achieve growth, an organisation will have resources and they try to limit their expenditure. So, this is what we have been doing in Oyo State for the past five and a half years.
“This power plant is 100 percent private investment because the government doesn’t have the money to do everything. But as government, we provided the enabling environment for investors to know that we are serious people. We have invested in road construction, interconnecting all the zones so that development spreads across the state.
“We have focused on agribusiness so that investors come into our state through Private Public Development Partnership. We have invested in security so that see our dear state investment destination in Nigeria,” Makinde stated.
However, it still took some people by surprise. “People either forgot or simply counted it as just one of those politician’s promises,” shrugged Mr. Gbenga Omotosho, a computer operator based in Ibadan. “The truth is that I myself took the promise with a pinch of salt. I didn’t consider feasible because it is common to hear politicians make promises and leave them as just promises.”
Unknown to the majority of the people who responded to inquiries on the power project, Seyi Makinde was working quietly to make good his promise. On Saturday, 11 December, 2021, he had performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ibadan Hybrid Power Plant (IBHP). It was a visionary move because Governor Makinde noted that “this was two years before the Federal Government gave the go-ahead for states to have power to generate, transmit and distribute their own power.”
Now that the project has come on stream and has become a reality sooner than they thought, and even caught them unawares, what do the people think? What are their reactions and what do they make of the person and administration of Governor Seyi Makinde with regards to this project?
Gbenga Omotosho expressed happiness that the IBHP was inaugurated. He said it was not enough to just say things “without following them through to a logical conclusion as is common among politicians.” He contended that even if he might not be a direct beneficiary of the power plant “because I live in a newly-developing area”, he was still happy because the project was completed and inaugurated.
“I am very happy with what I’m hearing from you. The fact that the governor said he would do it and went on to keep his words makes me happy. Forget about my being a beneficiary or not. I love people who make promises and keep them and Seyi Makinde has made my day with this development.”
Irú è la ó ma ri o! (may we witness more of such) was the prayerful response by Mr. Lateef Salami, a trader at the New Garage area of Ibadan. His retort was a prayer buried in his relief that the governor made this happen. “Honestly, I didn’t know that the project was ongoing, let alone being expectant that it would be completed so soon,“ he said. “But I am very pleased with Governor Makinde because he is changing the face of Ibadan and he is doing it without the usual noise and verbosity.
“You too, consider the travel time from Apata to New Garage before Makinde and now that he has fixed our majority roads. You know the answer yourself. I am happy that these things are happening and they are quietly being done by this government.”
According to him, with the power plant on stream, things were about to change for the better in terms of electricity supply in parts of Ibadan. “My residential area suffers from poor electricity supply, especially since the era of Band A and Band whatever. Who knows, the power freed from where the IBHP will supply might help boost power supply to my neighbourhood. Who knows?”
A corps member serving at Urban Day Grammar School, Ring Road, Miss Emilia Ifeoma wished other governors would emulated Governor Makinde. “He has made the city look more modern and the roads clean with their rehabilitation. The power plant is now like an icing on the cake of those achievements we can all see in the city. He should just continue on this path. Nigerian youths are watching and are taking notes.”
Governor Makinde has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable development in Oyo and has stated that the Ibadan Hybrid Power Plant marks a historic achievement in the state’s energy sector. Beyond the Ibadan plant however, the governor disclosed at the inauguration of the IBHP that he would launch a 500MW solar power project in Igbojaye community in Itesiwaju Local Government Area of the state before the end of his administration.
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