Some years ago, Agbologun community in the Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State glittered with electricity. But in recent times, the town has been sidelined and abandoned in the dark.
Even in those bright days, electricity did not come on a silver platter. As a people, we pulled our meagre resources together, lobbied, made several appeals and wrote petitions to those in relevant authorities including the power sector. Difficult, and burdensome as the situation was, we fought and prevailed in our quest to enjoy this basic amenity.
The experience of indigenes and residents of Agbologun community is a reminder that unless you have people in government in Nigeria, you probably will be left in limbo, forgotten and frustrated.
Considering the immense financial and communal efforts invested to electrify the community, it is disconcerting that we are now left in perpetual darkness.
From 2002 when the then caretaker Chairman of the local government, Fatiu Omikunle, initiated the first steps towards electrification of the town with the erection of a transformer and procurement of other materials, through the efforts of Olusegun Adeshina Omikunle and others, we got a 500KVA generator from the Chief Edward Kayode Oke-led local government administration under the Gbenga Daniel regime, Agbologun community was a beehive of activities.
People started finding reasons to come back home and enjoy the only dividend of democracy since the First Republic in 1963. Inhabitants could monitor developments across the world through the media. Indigenes in the Diaspora came home frequently to spend time with their aged parents and family. Even neighbouring Idosa and Ikefin towns benefited from our efforts as they later got electricity.
But three years after, the transformer packed up marking the beginning of what can be called technical extortion by some power firm officials. I was told some officials of the defunct PHCN often collected money from residents of the community to maintain the transformer yet no tangible result has been recorded. Before the facility was finally declared irreparable, it only served us for some months in an epileptic manner.
We have among our people many qualified and experienced artisans like tailors, welders, refrigerator repairers, barbers, mill operators, technicians, electricians, hairdressers and frozen food sellers, some of who have lost their jobs to lack of electricity.
Gradually, the community known for its massive population became deserted. However, the old ones who have no options have continued to live there. For a part of the young people who have stayed back, they burn fuel, spending a lot of money to buy petrol.
Agbologun has suffered infrastructural neglect and our representatives at the parliament have consistently failed to bring us any relief.
Meanwhile, we thought that if constituency responsibilities are still anything to go by and as the result we made several moves to contact the three-time House of Representatives member, Akinlade Isiak, but he seemed not interested in our plight. The current representative we have in the House seems not to be visible; Joseph Dada is hardly seen and Abdulkabir A. Akinlade, Yewa South/Ipokia Federal Constituency, House of Representatives, has offered no help either.
Therefore, we appeal to Governor Ibikunkle Amosun to save us from this annoying darkness. This is not asking for too much from a government instituted by the people.
Omikunle Muritala,
Agbologun, Ipokia, Ogun state
