From: WOLE BALOGUN, Ado-Ekiti
The people of Omuo-Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State are lamenting the hardship imposed on them by lack of electricity for over one year.
They said that the prolonged blackout had paralysed social and economic activities in the town thereby making life unbearable to the people.
The community, located on the boundary of Ekiti with Ondo and Kogi states, said all efforts to make the Benin
Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) to do something to alleviate the suffering of the people were unsuccessful.
Speaking with our reporter on the development, a leader in the community and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Diran Adesua, called on the BEDC to restore power to the town and save the businesses of artisans and residents from total collapse.
Adesua said that majority of artisans and traders whose jobs rely on electricity had closed shops and turned to commercial motorcycle operators to make ends meet.
The situation, according to him, had sparked a mass exodus of youths and school leavers from the community to the state capital, Ado-Ekiti and other major cities to eke out a living.
Adesua said, “We have made several representations to BEDC on this very appalling power situation in Omuo but our efforts have not yielded any
fruit.
“Our people now depend on generating sets as source of power but fuelling them is expensive and eating deep into our pockets. Those in government should be able to provide social amenities to citizens who gave them mandate at election.
“Apart from the power outage, we are also appealing to the state
government to urgently repair the Ikole-Omuo Road and Isinbode-Omuo Road because they have now become deathtraps to motorists and commuters plying them.”
The community leader also decried the alleged abandonment of the town by the state government despite the promises made to the electorate during campaign which he noted had not been fulfilled three years after.
Reacting to the development on telephone, BEDC spokesman, Mr. Kayode Brown, said the company would look into the complaints of Omuo residents, but added that “they must provide evidence of payment of the bills.”