By Chidinma Agu
Lagos – The President, Concerned Ibafo Residents Forum, Mr Jacob Abolade, on Monday urged the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to connect the community to the national grid to boost socioeconomic activities.
Abolade made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
According to him, the community has been in darkness for the past seven years and does not want to have a decade of darkness.
“Socioeconomic activities have been paralysed in Ibafo Community as a result of continuous darkness.
“Promises made by the management of IBEDC that electricity would be provided in the community in December 2016, failed.
“The residents have made huge contributions in terms of purchase of electricity poles, transformers, electric cables and other accessories, to facilitate the connection of the community to the national grid.
“We want well-meaning Nigerians to join us to appeal to IBEDC to connect the community to the national grid,” he said.
Abolade said that the community was tired of unfulfilled promises from IBEDC.
NAN reports that the Ibafo Community has been without electricity since 2010.
Mr Felix Abiodun, Ogun Regional Technical Manager of IBEDC, confirmed the darkness in the community but promised that it would soon be connected to the national grid.
He said that the Oke-Aro/Akute Substation had been certified by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), and that the procedure for handing over the station to IBEDC would soon start.
According to him, once the station is handed over to IBEDC, the process of energising it will begin.
Abiodun said that Ibafo and some neighbouring communities would be connected to the national grid afterwards.
He regretted the continuous darkness but said that without certification and proper handover of the station, IBEDC would not energise it for electricity distribution.
