Residents of Ogun Community Struggle With Long Power Cuts

Residents and business owners in Arigbawo Community, Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, are unhappy about months of poor electricity supply. They say this issue has disrupted their businesses and raised household costs.

The residents, who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, said electricity in the community has become very irregular. Sometimes, power is off for weeks or months, and when it comes back, it only lasts a few hours.

Because of this, many residents and business owners are now relying on other power sources, like generators and solar energy. They also mentioned that the long power cuts have made some people think about leaving the community. Reliable electricity was one reason many chose to live there in the first place.

Mrs Oyegoke, a resident, said the community has often complained about the issue through its Community Development Association, but nothing has been done to fix it. She said, “There is no light here, although we used to have light here before. If they bring it, within 30 minutes, they will take it off. We have complained, we have CDA, but nothing has been done.”

Another resident, who only gave her name as Titi, said the poor power supply has made some people consider moving to places with better electricity. She said, “The light they brought recently was very low. For weeks now, we have not had light. It was because of the light we moved in here. Most of us living here moved here because of light. Some are already leaving and moving to other places with constant light. But we who own houses here are still here.”

A businesswoman in the community, who asked to remain anonymous, said the unreliable power supply hurts her business, especially when it comes to keeping her goods in the freezer. She said, “Our light is poor here. I use a freezer to run my business, but it is not functioning as expected due to the power issue. Even if they restore it, it is like once a week.”

Other businesses that need electricity to preserve goods are also struggling. Some families have had to spend more money on solar systems and generators. Mrs Okorie, another business owner, said she now uses solar energy to keep her business going because of the unreliable power supply.

She said, “We can stay up to three months without light. I have to use two solars to power my fridge because if the drinks are not cold, people will not buy them. Whenever we see light, we are always happy.”

Okorie noted that past complaints led to temporary improvements in electricity supply, but things later went back to how they were. She added, “We had a low-current power supply yesterday. It can be until one month before we have light again. We complained, and there were changes, but it did not last.”

A hairstylist named Ibukun said she has stopped relying on public electricity and now uses a generator. She said, “There used to be a time when we had constant light, but not anymore. I have started regretting residing in this area because the constant power supply back then was one of the reasons I came here.

“I have stopped depending on light. I use a generator for whatever I want to do. We have light once a month, most times.”

When contacted on Wednesday, Angela Olanrewaju, the IBEDC Coordinating Head of Corporate Services, said the poor power supply affecting parts of Ogun State, including Abeokuta and nearby areas, is due to load restrictions and maintenance work.

Olanrewaju explained that IBEDC is working with its limited electricity allocation to share available power fairly among the affected communities. She said, “IBEDC has been managing the limited allocation available to it in an effort to distribute the available supply as equitably as possible across affected communities to minimize the impact on customers.”

She also mentioned that the company is talking with partners to tackle the problems affecting supply. “IBEDC has been engaging its value chain partners on the situation and has been informed that work is ongoing to address the cause of the constraints, which was caused by ongoing maintenance work,” Olanrewaju said.

She apologized to customers for the inconvenience and asked for their patience and understanding.