Sola Ojo, Kaduna
Residents of Danhonu II, a community in New Millennium City of Chikun Local Government Area in Kaduna State, have appealed to the Federal and Kaduna State Governments that their town be electrified.
Leaders of the community who spoke separately said that Gbagyi has been in darkness since its founding over a hundred years ago despite its closeness to Kaduna City.
The community leaders told procurement monitors during a visit to “Extension of Electricity to Millennium City” project that the community electrification project started in December 2016 with the installation of concrete poles and was scheduled to be completed by January 14, 2017.
The Chairman of Danhonu II Landlord Association, Mr Akoh Salifu, said the project has dragged on for over three years for unknown reasons but was eventually completed in June 2020 following the intervention of two federal agencies.
‘The contractors came to start work in December 2016 promising to finish the project within two weeks.
‘We were told it was a constituency project by Senator Shehu Sani under Rural Electrification Agency (REA). They installed high tension poles from Sabon Jero where they intended to connect the electricity to Danhonu II and some low tension poles to distribute within the community, they even picked a spot where the transformer would be installed but left without rolling on the wire or installing the transformer.
‘Then another contractor, Niger Delta Power Holdings, came to build a power substation in Millennium City and decided to connect Danhonu II to the substation after installing another transformer. Then the initial contractors came back to install their transformer, rolled on the wire and completed their work. But after four months, they are yet to switch on the light,’ he lamented.
Another leader of the community and a veteran journalist, Alhaji Tijjani Tajudeen, said their appeal to Federal and Kaduna State governments is to switch on the light to take the community out of darkness, saying ‘the community has been in darkness for over 100 years.
‘Many members of the community including children have never lived with electricity. Contractors came to erect poles, laid wire and installed transformers but for over four months, we have been waiting for the light to be switched on.
‘We appeal to governments to come to our aid and light up our community. All the surrounding communities are enjoying electricity; Danbushiya, Sabon Gida, Keke, Kadaure, Sabon Jero, Doka Maijama, Danhonu I, even Ungwa Ma’aji who were connected in 2019, while we wallow in darkness,’ the senior citizen decried.