Kajola Youth Forum, a group whose focus is on the development of Kajola local government in Okeho has written to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) over the epileptic power supply in the area.
The group in a release signed by Oseni Ibrahim, Gbolahan Ojo Gabriel made available to insideoyo.com on Friday urged the electricity distribution company to give the community electricity or cease charges.
The release read in full:
GIVE US LIGHT OR CEASE YOUR CHARGES: FROM KAJOLA YOUTH FORUM TO IBEDC.
Kajola Youth Forum is an association whose focus is to champion the development of the young people of Kajola Local Government who are residing at home, in other towns or cities within Nigeria and in the diaspora.
Months ago our attention has been drawn to the epileptic power supply in our locality.
As you are aware, Kajola (Okeho) residents have not been enjoying electricity supply as at when due. Apart from the fact that power supply is so irregular, our people have also regularly been given outrageous electricity bills which often suggests tha power had been supplied for the entire month.
In other words, the power supply we enjoy is far below the electricity bills we are compelled to pay on a monthly basis.
We have been bringing this complain to head of IBEDC Electric offices, but nothing has been done to attend to our complaints.
Mostly and always, the explanation that we have been hearing from IBEDC about this the abysmal power supply to our area has been revolving around the bad transformers.
Sir, with all sense of humor ty, we like to know whose responsibility is it to install transformers to service our electricity need? We need to ask this question so as to know which step to take to address this issue with a view to finding a lasting solution to our problems.
Another thing bothering our minds is that, in spite of the several requests made by residents to the your office to issue us prepaid meters, nothing has happened for reasons best known to them.
We think it is good to know that we have compared notes with other places and we have seen that prepaid meters had been given to many people in other places. We also want to enjoy the same in Kajola and we ask that something be done to address this matter before it is too late.
Another thing is that, our electricity lines are always disconnected and residents are forced to pay outstanding electricity bills and penalty fines whenever we defer to pay our bills in protest against shoddy services.
Please, it is instructive to not that lack of consistent and reliable power supply has become a major bane to our development in Kajola. Small scale businesses are being affected; and, this has added to the unemployment rate which has brought serious poverty and hardship to our locality.
As we can all see, businesses such as barbing/hairdressing, welding and others like them have been depending on generators to provide electricity at a higher cost to remain in business and, because they can’t with such private efforts, many others have been compelled to close their shops thereby causing more economic damage to the locality.
Finallty, we heard that the supply of power was going to improve during this pandemic, but the kind of power supply we have been experiencing since Covid-19 began has been terrible.
Sir, these are some of the issues that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We plead that a proactive step be taken so as to prevent further actions on this from our end.
