Ogwashi-Uku, a town with not less than 27,000 inhabitants, is the headquarters of Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State.
The ancient community was also the headquarters of Aniocha Division in the defunct Bendel and Midwest states.
The town then had administrative jurisdiction over Asaba, Issele-Uku, Ibusa, Akwkwu-Igbo, Onicha-Ugbo and many other communities in the neighbourhood.
Political analysts believe that Ogwashi-Uku has contributed a lot of human resources to the country’s development, both at the federal and state levels.
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance, Chief Ralph Uwaechue, former minister and ambassador, and the late Dr Emmanuel Osamor, a former Minister of Police Affairs, hail from the community.
The list appears endless. In the defunct Bendel State, an indigene of Ogwashi-Uku, the late Mr Isaac Okonjo was Secretary to the State Government, while his compatriots, Azuka Obichie, Charles Okolo and John Iwowo, among others, were commissioners.
However, some residents of the community, which has also produced famous footballers such as Austin “Jay Jay’’ Okocha and the late Victor Oduah, claim that the town has nothing to show in terms of infrastructural development.
They noted that the community has not been getting regular power supply in the last one year, resulting in excessive use of generators across the town.
Narrating the residents’ ordeal, Chukwudi Nwandu, a primary school teacher, said the Azungwu area of the town, where he was living, had been without electricity for over 11 months.
Corroborating his claims, Jude Ilom, a motorcycle repairer, and Miss Nkem Obianaba, a teacher, said they could not remember the last time they enjoyed power supply.
A cold room operator, Ignatius Okobi, said he and his colleagues in the business had no other option than to venture into other lines of business since it had become extremely difficult for them to operate cold rooms with power generators.
He noted that several enterprises in Ogwashi-Uku, which depended on electricity supply, had been forced to close down because of their inability to cope with high costs of production.
Okobi said the situation had forced many artisans, including welders, air conditioner and refrigerator repairers, tailors, barbers and computer operators, among others, to relocate from the community.
Emmanuel Okafor, the President General of Ogwashi-Uku Development Union, conceded that the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) had not been supplying power to the town regularly.
He rejected claims that the community had been without electricity supply for about a year.
“They give us light at times but the problem is that it is not regular; in a month, we may have electricity for about eight days altogether,’’ he said.
Nwakamma Okafor, a retired civil servant, recalled that he once led a 17-member delegation to PHCN’s zonal office in Benin about three months ago to discuss the power supply problems.
He said the PHCN officials admitted that power supply was generally poor around the country, adding that they, nonetheless, pledged that something would be done to improve electricity supply to the community.
Okafor added that the officials assured them that they would work out plans on how to supply electricity to the community at least three days in a week.
He said due to the irregular power supply to the community, he spent about N1, 000 every day on fuel to power the generator in his house.
Emperor Ijenwa, a taxi driver, rejected the notion that the community was experiencing a total power failure, insisting that the electricity supply was just epileptic.
Mrs Esther Okolie, PHCN’s Public Relations Manager in Asaba, who acknowledged the power supply challenges facing residents of Ogwashi-Uku, said irregular electricity supply was a general problem.
She said Ogwashi-Uku area alone needed about 105 megawatts of electricity, while only 22 megawatts were available for distribution among all the customers, including government and public offices.
“The situation is so bad and people are bound to complain; their complaints are genuine but I must appeal to our customers in this area to be patient with us.
“Let us pray that the 33 KVA step-down transformer on Ibusa Road will be completed and operational before the end of this year or early next year,’’ she said.
The residents of Ogwashi-Uku and other towns in the area have been appealing to all the relevant authorities to ensure regular power supply to the neighbourhood.
Analysts urged the Federal Government to carry out pragmatic reforms in the power sector to improve the power supply situation across the country.
• Ifeajika is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
