Nigeria’s land border with Republic of Benin at Seme is the major gateway in and out of the country from and to other West African countries. But, residents of the town are becoming increasingly discontented with lack of electricity supply from the National Grid. RAYMOND MORDI reports.
The proprietor of the Lord’s New Generation Schools, Seme, Lagos, Oluwaseun Falola, is not happy with the state of affairs at one of Nigeria’s international borders with the Republic of Benin. He is not happy because the land border that constitutes the major gateway in and out of the country, as far as other West African countries, are concerned, is not connected to the National Grid and does not enjoy electricity supply from any of the successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). The situation has been like that for close to a decade.
Falola believes the country can benefit more in terms of revenue from the area if electricity is provided.
His words: “This is a border town. It is a very important centre of commerce. In this case, Seme is situated along the coast, close to the Atlantic. It should be developed into a tourist attraction to generate more revenue for the government. We have over 50 villages around Seme Border; the area is known as Badagry West Local Council Development Area (LCDA). It is not only Seme alone that is suffering from this light problem. All the villages within the LCDA do not have access to light.”
Chief Ibidun Joshua, who is indigenous to the area, said there is practically no government presence in the area. He noted that it is ironic that the so-called giant of Africa is not living up to expectation in terms of citizens’ well-being.
He said: “There is no hospital here, no industries and no government presence whatsoever. There is no standard primary or secondary school in this town. Most of our children attend private schools.
“The only public primary school here has no decent classrooms and no fence. The pupils would be in class, watching vehicles zoom past on the road leading to the border. Besides, the area is water-logged. The environment is not conducive enough to teaching and learning. The same thing applies to the only government secondary school in the town. Is it when we resort to riots that the government would pay attention to our needs?”
Joshua said the community has not had light for the past seven years and that their kith and kin across the border are enjoying uninterrupted supply of electricity.
“We speak the same language with the people at the other side of the border. Indeed, it was in 1974 that the boundary was demarcated and we were placed on this side, while some of our kinsmen were put on the other side. Our people are becoming impatient with government in so many areas, But, I believe once government gives us light, other things would follow,” he added.
Falola wants the Federal Government to do something to address the problem because it is tarnishing the image of Nigeria.
“In the neighbouring villages across the border in the Republic of Benin, the light never blinks,” he said.
Seme border is a thriving centre of commerce. Interestingly, Nigerians from the four corners of the country are to be found there. As should be expected, there are also citizens of other West African countries living there, particularly those from the neighbouring Benin, Togo and Ghana.
According to some residents, there are five different communities of Nigerians living there. This is made up of the Egun people or natives, the Yoruba community, the Igbo community, the Niger Delta community and the Hausa community. Their major occupation is fishing. Aside from those employed by government agencies at the border and other ancillary service providers, most of the settler elements in the area are engaged in trading.
The entire community is adversely affected by the problem. All the Federal Government agencies here like the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Police, Port Health and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) are feeling the pinch.
They buy diesel in large quantity to provide electricity for their operations. But, other residents believe those working with government agencies are not bothered about the problem because they make enough money at the border to fuel their generators.
Chief Emmanuel Adeyemo, a retired Major and leader of the Yoruba community in the area, said government is treating Nigerians living along the border as aliens. “All the politicians we have been voting for at various levels, thinking they will do something for us, have disappointed us,” he told our correspondent.
Adeyemo, a native of Ogbomoso in Oyo State, came to Seme on November 29, 1984 when he was posted there as part of a 17-member security team to secure the border. Today, he is a traditional title holder in Seme and has risen to become the leader of the Yoruba community. He has no immediate plans of leaving the place because he regards the area as home.
Similarly, Captain Umaru Usman (rtd), a native of Kano State and the spokesman of the Arewa community in Seme, said it is only during the period of electioneering campaign that politicians suddenly remember that people living along the border are Nigerians.
“I am tired of complaining about this matter. We have been complaining about it for some time, but nothing has come out of it,” he said, adding that it is unfortunate because it would be difficult for him to adjust to life outside the border.
“I regard this place as my home now because those indigenous to this land have been generous enough to give us land to bury the remains of our relatives. In my custom, wherever you bury the remains of your close relatives is home,” he said.
The situation on the other side of the border contrasts sharply with what obtains on the Nigerian side, as communities and businesses in that axis have power supplied to them by the government of Benin Republic.
There are six commercial banks operating in Seme at the moment. It used to be 11, but five have closed shop over the light issue because the cost of running their operations is extremely high. They rely on generators for their operations. The banks operating there include First Bank, Union Bank, Zenith Bank and Diamond Bank.
Some Nigerians doing businesses around the border town prefer to live across the border. They stroll in and out of the country at the beginning and at the close of work. Falola lived across the border for five years between 2006 and 2011.
“I preferred to live there because there was light there to make life more meaningful. There was light to charge your handset, power your radios and television and equally to sleep. I cannot afford to sleep in heat. But, when the molestation against Nigerians became too much, I had to return to the country. When any misfortune befalls the people of Benin, the blame is invariably heaped on Nigerians, particularly the Igbo,” he said.
In spite of the availability of electricity, he says Benin Republic can never be compared to Nigeria; in population, knowledge and education, infrastructural development generally and resources.
“Nigeria is miles ahead. It is just this issue of unavailability of light that is the problem. We have everything we need to be a great country. Our problem basically is putting square pegs in square holes,” he added.
There was an attempt during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s first tenure to provide electricity to Seme and its environs, but it failed. The late Olusegun Agagu, who was then the Minister of Power and Steel laid the foundation stone for the project on November 23, 2000. The communities were eventually connected to the National Grid in 2006. But, after a few months, according to Falola, the light went off.
“What we learnt then was that the cables that were used were inferior. Like every other Nigerian contractor that wants to maximise profit, the contractors used inferior cables,” he said. Other accounts say vehicles plying the route started colliding with the electric poles, causing disruption in power supply.
In Joshua’s view, the job was given to a wrong contractor. “When we noticed the way he was executing the job, the community wrote to government, complaining about the poor quality of the job of the contractor. But government ignored us. Eventually, when it was time to inaugurate the project, the late Olusegun Agagu, who was then the Minister of Power and Steel, by-passed the community and went straight to Customs Barracks to inaugurate, without involving members of the community.
How can they install high tension wires along the expressway? No sooner, vehicles started damaging the poles and no efforts were made by government to repair the damaged poles.
The community tried to intervene on a number of occasions to remedy the situation on self-help. They raised money and tried to repair the damaged poles. According to Usman, representatives of the five communities went to Ikeja in 2011 to procure a transformer. But, the transformer is still in the premises of the late Baale of the town.
He added: “We also spent money trying to prepare the place we were supposed to mount the transformer, but as we speak, it is still lying intact within the late Baale’s compound. I spend N1, 000 to buy fuel to power my I-better-pass-my-neighbour generator every day.”
In the last effort, which brought some disaffection between members of the community and the local government authorities, the sum of N500, 000 was allegedly raised through voluntary self-help effort and handed over to a high-ranking official of the local council. He had promised to use the money to appeal to PHCN officials to do something about the power situation at the border. But, he allegedly pocketed the money and nothing came out of the attempt.
Now, everyone is fed up. “You cannot approach any household now to say they should contribute money towards fixing the light,” one of the residents noted. Unless, government intervenes, Seme and its environs are likely to remain in darkness for a long time.”
end private schools…The only public primary school here has no decent classrooms and no fence. The pupils would be in class, watching vehicles zoom past on the road leading to the border. Besides, the area is water-logged. The environment is not conducive enough to teaching and learning.
