By Adejesu
As at the time of writing this report, 6am on Thursday, there was no electrical power supply in Ekosodin area of Benin city. This, sadly, has become the recent norm for UNIBEN students, traders and individuals living in Ekosodin.
The normal time for electrical power supply in Ekosodin as of January this year was 2 pm – 6 pm and 9 pm – 8 am (which they seize in the middle of the night), but recently it changed by the time student returned in October. Students were able to put up with the fact that 9 pm is no longer 9 pm but past 10 and even to 11 sometimes, and 2 pm is now past 3pm or 4pm. The change, however, is not the problem but the problem is that power is not supplied despite the change in schedule.
Since December 3rd, 2022, Ekosodin has been experiencing fluctuating electrical power supply. The voltage fluctuates between high and low currents. The power is not supplied at the expected time, and when it is supplied, the voltage is not stable.
This developing issue of poor electricity in Ekosodin needs to be checked, as one way of improving the security of a place is standard improvement in electrical power supply. The recent meeting held by the Ekosodin vigilante officers with the Ekosodin Landlords and Students on security issues on the 3rd of December, 2022, shows how productive the vigilante officers desire to be in safeguarding the community. This is commendable, but how will the vigilante group fulfil their promised duty of ensuring security in the region, without a stable power supply? Students are beginning to complain of the poor electrical power supply issue in light of the recent commencement of exams at the University of Benin.
In an interview with the ACJ UNIBEN, a 200-level student of the department of AEB said, “I must say the issue of light recently has not been really nice. The light of before is not the light of now. They don’t supply power at the right time and when they do, it fluctuates; this affects students as it has restricted us from using the pumping machine, hence water insufficiencies in hostels. Also, sometimes we don’t get light to charge phones, and some of us who have pdf files to read are left stranded and short of information”.
“I am going to night class due to this light issue. The light should be attended to, most especially during this exams period”, said Frances, a 200-level Educational Management student.
“The water and bottling association is planning on increasing prices. The light in this Ekosodin is bad anyhow. The light issue has affected our production because we rely on the generator to use the water pumping machine and the fuel price is not friendly too. Funny how the BEDC power supply also brought the December bill not minding the issues of light. Also, this light issue will affect the vigilante because they can only work effectively when there is stable light and prevent intruders too,” a worker at EJUMA water company said.
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