IT has been 23 days of hell for residents of Obanlearo Street and Coker Road in Ilupeju, Lagos, who have been coping without electricity since one of their transformers exploded on February 23.
Their efforts to remedy the situation, they said, had so far failed as the Ikeja Electric (IE) told them that the transformer ‘’is irretrievably damaged’’.
The electricity distribution company, they added, has yet to do anything about the other transformer, which it said, ‘’is rectifiable’’.
Some residents said they had suffered losses because of the blackout, others stated that the situation had compounded their health condition.
Eighty-four-year-old Prince Henry Odukomaiya of 2 Obanlearo Street said it had become difficult getting a good rest in the day and at night.
“You know, such thing easily affects the health condition of people in our age bracket,” he said.
Since February 20, he said, the whole area had been in darkness.
“We just heard a loud noise from the transformer and all electricity appliances went off. We reported to the Ikeja Electric at the nearby Ilupeju office. They also confirmed hearing the noise and promised to look into it,” he said.
Three days later, Prince Odukomaiya said, he went to complain at the firm’s Obanikoro office, but to no avail.
“Two weeks later, the IE officials came to remove the transformer and later told us that it was irretrievably damaged; that it needs a replacement. There are two transformers there. The other one, IE said, is rectifiable but they have not been able to redeem the rectifiability of the transformer. It has been 23 days of mystery and endless darkness,” he said.
The veteran journalist said he had spent N115,000 so far on fuelling his generator. He pays N35,000 monthly in electricity bill.
“The amount of petrol consumption daily is colossal. We are in a digital age, where everything has to do with electricity. I buy N5000 fuel daily to power my generator, yet I can’t have electricity for 24 hours. Even at that, generator is never an alternative to municipal electricity. Many things have been damaged in the house. We can’t even use it to power the air condition and other high voltage electrical appliances,” he said.
Olajide Oluwasegun, who runs a bar on Coker Road, said he had spent over N350,000 to power his generator whereas he pays N40,000 monthly in electricity bill.
“I bought N6,500 diesel and N5,000 petrol daily to power my generators. My business can’t be run without electricity. The drinks must be iced for customers patronising this place,” he said.
The heat, he said, was also taking its toll on his health.
“IE should help with a better transformer that will serve us better,” he said.
IE Undertaking Manager Desmond Abayomi Idowu told The Nation that ‘Coker 1’ transformer was faulty and had been taken to workshop for repair.
“How long that will be I can’t know for now but on or before Friday, we will get information on its status and I will definitely notify my customers,” he said.
