On a normal day in 2005, the Southern Senatorial District of Ondo state journeyed into darkness. Little did anyone foresee that children born in that year, would have to wait almost 2 decades to see the light bulbs in their family rooms light up again. Then, in the middle of 2024, electricity began to light up homes in okititpupa township and adjourning communities. Nigerian Daily’s Titilope Adegolu-Oniyesan used the newly restored candlelight electiicity to navigate a background story into the development, and uncovered quite a situation.
ENTER IDOWU DESMENNEU
Idowu Andrew Desmennue, an Igun man from badagry first arrived on the red earth of Ondo South around 1995/1996 to work on the Ore/ Irele Oil Palm company, through NIJAL, Nigeria Joint Agencies Limited. In 2018, High Chief Adekanmi Adegbola, a high ranking community leader, invited him over the electricity problem that had lingered for years already at the time. Later in August, 2018, Desmenneu held meetings with all the Obas of 5 local governments, and told them the power situation on ground as at the time, was salvable, but at no cost, other than that people should buy meters. His meters. Desmenneu in an interview with this paper in 2024, claims he had a personal, God- given mandate.
On being told to assess the power situation, after over 14 years of absolute darkness, Desmenneu said there was still, no power in Okitipupa. ”There is light in only a handful of places. 80 percent of people in Okitipupa do not have light. Connection was restored only in areas where the transformers were not totally vandalised.”
Mr Desmenneu was invited, as he narrated, to attend his expertise to the power problem. This, was until the camaraderie engendered by his arrival turned a bitter pill in the mouth of same people who earlier accepted him into the community .
After the 2018 protests held by youths in Ondo South to call attention to the power problem, EX Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo visited Ondo South in 2018 alongside the Governor, before the general elections, and mandated the Niger Delta Power Holding Company to rehabilitate the light from Ondo to Okitipupa, at a cost of over 2 Billion Naira. Consequently, all the nine ejection sub- stations including that of Omotosho were rehabilitated, by 2020/2021, with the expectation that BEDC will make electricity available to the people.
DID BEDC ACT ON THE NEWLY REHABILITATED INFRASTRUCTURE?
The BEDC allegedly left the freshly rehabilitated infrastructure ( several kilometers of it) to be re- vandalized all over again due to inaction and a wildly told story of paucity of funds amidst sundry issues.
According to reports, Ifeoluwa Oyedele, an Executive Director with the Niger Delta Power Holding, NDPHC, led the sourcing of funds to speerhead a further rehabilitation of lines from Ore to Okitipupa, and subsequently, light was restored briefly in 2018, in Ode Aye community. Still, some stakeholders insist that BEDC had no meters at the time, and could or would not financially commit to stretching the power distribution company to energise the people, despite their languishing in darkness for years.
Desmenneu says, ”In 2018, I submitted a proposal for a vending solution. The solution was to supply the check meters, which allowed the BEDC to put prepaid meters on transformers, while we use check meters to do collection for them. It is on record that in at least one meeting involving the state government, the BEDC said they had neither money nor meters. Under Osibodu (ex-BEDC head) we brought meters, BEDC came and said no, though they had no meters themselves. BEDC said they could not use the meters of a private company. ”
”Letters were written to the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, for consent back then in 2019. The law says anybody can bring in check meters. in 2019, it cost about 35000 against over 135000 in 2024.” (Pictured below; A visit to the NERC taken with Desmenneu on far right)
THE MODERNIST OPINIONS OF OLU IGBOKODA
In an interview with this paper in August 2024, the Olu of Igbokoda, a leading agitator for energising the Ondo South through the involvement of private vendoring, opened by saying there was yet, no light in Okitipupa, nor in Igbokoda.
”If out of 77 transformers in okitipupa, only 5 are working, how many homes can that 5 give electricity? So it is as good as saying there is no light yet in okitipupa, and I dont want people to jubilate over nothing. I know from my own knowledge and record that there are 77 transformers in okitipupa, and out of those 77, those that are repaired and could work are just about 7, so invariably, if there are 100 houses in Okitipupa, for instance, it means you might not even have up to ten percent that would have electricity, do you call that electricity?”
”I know in most parts, that you (interviewer) said there is electricity. But it is only candlelight electricity. Very low current in few houses. In Igbokoda with 28 transformers, the ones that are energized are not more than 2 or 3 . In fact, the places that have electricity in Igbokoda are the houses on the street of the Governor, and one or two streets, intermittently. All the houses that have electricitry in Igbokoda, as we speak, maybe once or twice a month are not even up to 20. Is that what we deserve for more than 18 years of darkness? If we are genuinely bringing light back to those without, it is not that only 5 people should have electricity, the transformers ought to have been prepared.”
A prominent king, the Olu of Igbokoda whose domain had languished in the unsolvable darkness that lingered well over a decade, claimed that the BEDC that was licensed to provide electricity in Ondo state brings only 25 megawatts of electricity to the whole of Ondo state.
”BEDC is only entitled to 400 megawatts of electricity from the federal government. Out of this 400 megawatts, they have given 350 megawatts to both Edo and Delta, permanently. Left with 50, they share the leftover between Ondo state and Ekiti state. While Ondo state gets 35 megawatts, Ekiti gets 15.”
Why is Ondo state left in darkness?
Olu of Igbokoda explains, ”BEDC acts like Shylock. They take money from those who can pay in bulk. Ondo state does not have any company that is using electricity well enough apart from the rubber plantation in Araromi Obu, so they have to give them electricity from Omotosho specially. So, the 25 megawatts they give Ondo state is concentrated in Akure, Ondo and parts of Akoko, because of the Higher Institutions there. Agagu University of Science and Technology came yesterday, and clearly, they had finished sharing what they had before it came on the scene. They simply do not care about giving meters to individual houses that will pay Five Thousand or Ten Thousand Naira monthly.
He continued, “the whole of Ondo state has 25 megawatts, but the Southern Senatorial district alone needs no less than 122 megawatts. So, the only way to make people think they are having a normal life is to hand out one or two megawatts occasionally. As it stands, BEDC is not prepared to spend money. most of the infrastructure in this area are destroyed and it is good for them to be destroyed because once they are destroyed, BEDC would have an excuse. So the major problem is they do not have the electricity to give to the people.”
HAS BEDC FAILED ONDO SOUTH?
There have been agitations against the perceived failings of BEDC- though a privately owned company itself, with the sole aim of profitising any venture. In the case of Ondo South prolonged darkness, the company allegedly erred on the side of caution with its non-challance. Several protests took place within the span of almost two decades, amisdt feelings that communities were held against the wall by the bullying BEDC, which having allegedly claimed they had no money or meters to energize the people, blocked any form of private intervention.
It is on record that in early August 2024, this private company, responsible for the distribution of electricity to mandate communities, met with the people of Ilutitun, one of the affected communities in Ondo South. At that meeting, they urged the people there to write a letter of appeal to the state government, forwarded to Niger Delta Development Commission, NDPAC, to come to the aid of the people in repairing their transformers and stringing of poles, because of a clear paucity of funds. Stakeholders say, continual reliance on the BEDC will keep these communities in darkness. They also say lighting up a few houses here and there is meant to hide the company’s inefficiency while doing the barest minimum.
Case in point, according to the Olu of Igbokoda in an interview in August, 2024, ”Because I am the one criticising them, over their inability, they came unsolicited, and put a meter in my house, but there is no light anywhere around my house. I am the only one with a meter.”
How has the BEDC reacted?
All efforts to get the reaction of BEDC head, Deolu ijose, were ignored. Messages asking his reactions were ignored, same as calls to his phone line.
However, in a strong opposing view, kabiyesi, The Jegun,, says Desmenneu and his allies cannot be allowed, because he does not have the financial capacity and just wants to take the communities ‘back to Egypt.’ and since he is unable to receive license from the state, would rather write distracting petitions against the BEDC, rather than seek areas of collaborations. He said, “they have been writing petitions to demoralise Deolu Ijose. Olu of Igbokoda chased BEDC officials out of his domain. So far, the power we enjoy, no matter how minimal is courtesy the BEDC, not Ayingba owned by Mr Desmenneu. Desmenneu and his crew are desperate for sudden money, trying to reap where they never sowed, those taking meters from them are entering second chance. I signed for Ayingba, until I realised the proprietor is nothing but a sugarcoated mouth. it is resolved already. The signed document is in error.
What really does the law say?
The law says where a distribution company, disco is not performing, or in a situation where it is under imminent receivership or community is underserved, the regulatory body has the right to empower another licensee, within the network, to see to the distribution use of system charge, for every volume of energy supplied the people.
Subscribe to our Newsletter.