A group of Community Development Associations, CDA located in the border area of Ogun state, under the aegis of Araromi Oke-Odo Area CDC has sent a Save Our Soul Letter to Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu over the power outage in the nine communities that make up the area.
In the letter, the communities decried the failure of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company to repair and or replace the transformer removed for repairs since October last year thereby putting them in total black out with no hope of repair in sight.
Full letter below:
The Honourable Minister of Power,
Ministry of Power,
Abuja.
Dear Honourable Adebayo Adelabu,
SAVE OUR SOUL LETTER
We write to congratulate you on the successes recorded so far in your yeoman job aimed at improving the nation’s Power Generation, Supply and Distribution in the last eighteen months.
There is no doubt that the increase in power generation to over 6,000megawatts is no mean achievement considering the numerous challenges facing power generation in this country.
However, we the undersigned wish to bring to your notice the plight of the above named community which is situated on the border area with Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve Centre.
The above group of communities has a thriving population of not less than 100,000 residents most of who depend on constant supply of electricity to earn their daily living.
However, we like to bring to your notice that in the last six months we have not had the opportunity to enjoy the increase in power supply recorded by your ministry due to the damage done to our 500KVA transformer.
The transformer developed fault in October last year and since then all efforts made by the 10 Community Development Associations, CDA, being served by the faulty transformer to effect repair or replacement has proved abortive.
The consequences of the absence of electricity to the life and business pursuit of the thousands of residents, businesses outfit are better imagined.
Sir, you may wish to know, that the transformer in question, the cables, the concrete poles and all other accessories were all purchased by the community about 16 years ago through self efforts in order to bring social and economic development to our doorstep.
Although, we were made to donate all these to the then PHCN as a convention, we were still making substantial contributions toward their maintenance.
The increase in our population over the years would later lead to load shedding on the transformer before it eventually packed up about 6months ago.
Since then we have made spirited efforts for its replacement through representations and advocates to the management of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company, IKEDC, whose jurisdiction our communities belong to but all to no avail.
We also explored the possibility of purchasing another Transformer through communal effort but the prevailing economic challenges in the country have made it a herculean task to raise the money needed for this purpose.
As a result, we are imploring you to use your good offices to prevail on the IKEDC to provide us with another transformer, a gesture which will bring Hope back to several families whose source of living has been removed for lack of electricity and its accompanying grinding poverty. We appreciate your challenges and contributions towards improving the nation’s electricity supply but we have no alternative than to appeal to you to come to our aid as the regulator of the Power sector.
Thank you Sir and may God continue to guide, protect and bless you towards making your tenure a resounding success.
Accept the assurances of our best wishes.
Yours faithfully,
Alhaji Taofeek Edun
Group Chairman
08122715410, 08070990675
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