From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
The people of Afikpo, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, an ancient city in the southern part of the state, have been without electricity for about 16 years and the situation is now disturbing them.
The people had stable power in 1976 when the city was connected to the national grid, which contributed to the development of the area. Socio-economic activities were very lively in the city then.
People from other parts of the state travelled to the city to enjoy the interesting environment because of its beauty, including social activities, to which power supply contributed immensely.
There was even nightlife. Reading by students increased literacy in the area and made the people one of the most educated in the state.
Businesses were also booming in the community and their neighbours and other investors were attracted to the community.
But Afikpo is now a shadow of itself. Socio-economic activities have crumbled because of the absence of power supply in the hilly community for about 16 years.
The member representing Afikpo North-East State constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Ukie Ezeali, said lack of power supply has impacted negatively on the socio-economic lives of the people of the area.
He said: “Our people are being compelled to repeat the life of darkness they lived in the olden days. It is on record that Afikpo got stable light in 1976 but that stable electricity faded away since over 10 years ago.
“This has had a debilitating implication in the development of the town in all spheres of life.
“This has affected the educational development of our children as they no longer have the ability to read at night as we used to do back in the day because of lack of electricity.
“This has also led to complete failure of businesses in the area. Businesses depend on power. Establishing and running a thriving business in Afikpo is almost an impossible venture.
“This has led to low employment and translated to massive poverty in the area. Skill acquisition is no longer interesting to the youths because they can’t survive without power.
“The already established businesses don’t get customers as they have higher price tag to their products because it costs them more to use generators. As a result, customers prefer to go down to Abakaliki or even Onueke to buy at cheaper prices and transport them back to Afikpo. Most of these small-scale businesses have folded, while many are in coma.
“There is also capital flight through rural-urban migration. People who are supposed to live and work there no longer do so due to high cost of living associated with lack of power supply. As a result, Afikpo town, which is an ancient beautiful town, is now being deserted and looking like a ghost town.”
The lawmaker lamented that the security situation in the area has also worsened because of lack of power, especially at night. According to him, criminals now capitalize on the blackout to carry out their nefarious activities.
He regretted that, more than a decade later, the Amasiri power sub-station in the area, which would have permanently solved the power outage in the area and most parts of Ebonyi South senatorial zone, was yet to be completed.
Following the power problem in the area, the people are almost out of patience and have taken to social media to hold some of their leaders in elected positions accountable, to enable them know what they are doing or have done to restore power to the second largest urban city in Ebonyi State, which prides itself as the Salt of the Nation.
The people have also held meetings, known as ozuzu, with some leaders in the area in positions of authority in attendance. Their last meeting was a few days ago, in Ogo Amaebor, Amangballa, which has been serving as a meeting place for the people since they came into being.
The meeting was convened by the community elders, during which Ezeali accused the state ministry of power of contributing to the woes of the area by not being up and doing in the N208 million project given to it by Governor Francis Nwifuru to tackle the electricity problem in the area. This led to condemnation and attacks against the ministry.
Addressing the people, Ezeali said, while the governor was doing everything possible to ensure a permanent solution to the power situation, the ministry has not been up and doing in completing the rehabilitation works on the transformers.
He accused the ministry of diverting the money approved by the governor for the restoration of power in the city by doing shoddy jobs on the electricity project.
The ministry of power had submitted a proposal to solve the power issues in Afikpo, which was purportedly considered by the governor.
Ezeali then submitted his own with N208 million as the total amount it would cost to solve the power issue. The proposal was immediately approved by the governor but the project was given to the ministry of power to handle.
The N208 million was for the refurbishment of transformers, supply of new ones and other ancillary works and was supposed to facilitate the return of temporary power supply through the high voltage lines from Nkalagu, but, six months later, it has been one controversy or the other without positive results.
Commissioner for Power and Energy, Chief Peter Ogeali, said all the scheduled works as contained in the bill of engineering measurements and evaluation have been completed in the N208 million power project in the community.
He noted that, in addition to the eight new transformers procured by the ministry from the fund, five old ones have been refurbished and installed in different locations in the local government.
He explained that what was delaying power supply to Afikpo and some other parts of the southern senatorial zone in the state, including Onicha, Isu, Uburu, Okposi and other communities, was as a result of relocation of high voltage lines between Nkalagu and Ntezi along Enugu-Abakaliki highway and the vandalised portion of the network at the Okposi axis in the state.
The commissioner stated that the state government and federal government were working tirelessly to resolve the issues and have approved the request for variations by the contractor handling the 33KVA Amasiri sub-station to compensate communities affected by the relocation to fully restore electricity not only in Afikpo but other neighbouring communities in Ebonyi South.
He accused the member representing Afikpo North East Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Ukie Ezeali, of vendetta against him and the ministry because he was not given the contract for the work. He alleged that Ezeali had come to him severally and pleaded to be given the contract and it was not given to him.
Ogeali explained that, since the approval was given to the ministry, he engaged contractors to execute the project working with qualified staff in the ministry to ensure that a quality job was done.
He equally noted that he advised the lawmaker to speak to the governor as he was the only one that could order the ministry to award the contract to him.
He said: “We strongly believe he merely wanted to paint the ministry black before his people and position himself as having done more than other stakeholders, because there is nothing about the release of funds and the project’s feedbacks that he is not fully aware of.”
He noted that the electricity project has been satisfactorily completed and awaiting connection to the national grid after the completion of the Transmission Company of Nigeria Power Sub-Station in Amasiri in the southern part of the state.
Commissioner for information and state orientation, Jude Okpor, disclosed this to newsmen at a press briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting.
He averred that the state government has extracted a commitment that the Amasiri power sub-station job would be completed before the end of this year.
Okpor said: “The State Executive Council took time to analyse the social media ripples that emanated from the Afikpo Light Project as well as issues surrounding it, and after an intense and exhaustive deliberation, the council resolved to inform the general public that the job leading to the restoration of light in Afikpo, contrary to erroneous information being peddled in some sections of the media, has been satisfactorily completed, only awaiting connection to the national grid after the completion of the Transmission Company of Nigeria Power Sub-Station, Amasiri, from which the state government has extracted commitment that the job would be completed before the end of the year.
“It may interest the general public to know that, as part of its negotiation with the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the state government has approved payment for the diversion of the high-tension poles affected by the dualization of Enugu-Abakaliki-Ogoja Trans-Sahara expressway.
“The council, however, cautions those who are misinforming the general public without verifiable information to desist from such to ensure that peace continues to exist and for further development to thrive in the area, or be ready to face the wrath of the law,” he said.