Transformer and feeder pillar at Babatunde Jose junction, Samuel Manuwa Street in Victoria Island are seen overgrown with weed September 13, 2017.

PHOTOS: Poor Facilities And Maintenance Embedding Nigeria In Darkness – Findings – Part 2

By Kunle Ajayi

On Feb 1, 2018

Lagos – In effect, this has made everyone a GENco. In each household, or for business owners, the brunt bearer has to supply its own power through generating sets, generally referred to as ‘I better pass my neighbour’, because of epileptic power supply by the electricity provider.

Apart from transformers, most of the electric cables seen are substandard and awkwardly joined In parts of Oki in Iyana-Ipaja, Aboru, was left darkness for five days because of an electric cable that dropped along Ige road in the area.

A man walks past unfenced transformer at Bishop Aboyade Cole, Victoria Island September 13.

“The man who occupied one of these shops used to be our saviour. Whenever there was any problem, either transformer blows or cable cuts, he reached out to DisCo officials on our behalf. Now that he has left us, regular light has become a daydream,” Mallam Bashir, a petty trader with a kiosk near Oki 2 transformer lamented, in answer to the incessant breakdown of the transformer and falling of cables in his community.

Shop owners use generators to power their shops at Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos.

Petty trader rely on small generator to light up her wares at Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos October 1, 2017.

Bread seller lights his stand with small generator at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, September 2, 2017.

A woman turns unfenced transformer to stand for selling fish at Oke-Koto area, Agege, Lagos, October 7, 2017

A woman turns unfenced transformer to stand for roasting plantain at Oki junction, Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, October 26, 2017

In the course of this investigation, a lot of ‘jeunjeun’ atitudes or total non-adherence to the law by the operators were observed. The law that stipulates that every transformer and feeder pillar should be fenced was observed to be vagrantly disobeyed in most places that were visited during this period of investigation like Agege, Iyana Ipaja, Ayobo, Oba Akran, Ikeja, Victoria Island, just to mention a few. Even in highbrow areas like Victoria Island, transformer bases were seen unkempt, overgrown with weeds. This carefree attitude or disobedience to the law not only risks the lives of the people, but also makes the facilities prone to vandals, which are the cartels that have been compounding the problems in the electricity sector.

Moribund transformer at Sofunde, Agege, Lagos, December 3, 2017.

To corroborate these findings, two major facilities suffered collapsed in October/November. There was an official statement that Egbin power station collapsed. Also, a substation at Mende Maryland was announced to undergo routine maintenance. All these led to the drop in and erratic power supply.

For the masses to enjoy the little power the country is generating, it is high time those tiny and substandard cables, bad poles and moribund transformers were replaced; coupled with a total overhauling of power stations and substations. Otherwise, it would be a case of using ringworm therapy to treat leprosy.

Source Independent Newspaper