By John Oghojafor
If the assurances given by the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege is anything to go by, then the people of Sapele in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State may have cause to smile for the restoration of power supply to the community in the foreseeable future.
It would be recalled that Sapele city which used to be an industrial hub of the South South in the days of the popular AT&P, has been hit with hales of darkness for about two decades now in spite of the fact that the town plays host to one of the oldest thermal power generating station and a recently-commissioned NIPP generating plant. There is also the presence of a multi-purpose power step-down that has the capacity of over 60 megawatts which was set up about ten years ago for the purpose of providing regular power supply to the community.
Worried by the unending paradox of ‘power power everywhere but not a voltage for Sapele’, the community had embarked on several peaceful protests to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) without any visible improvement on the power supplies to the community.
The New Diplomat gathered that representatives of Sapele community had met with the management of the two power generating stations in Ogorode-Sapele, the management of BEDC, the governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the Delta State Commissioner of Police over the Sapele power supplies issue but the situation seems to be getting worse. And it was against this backdrop that the Community petitioned the Senate, through the Senator representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege over their plight.
Addressing the people of Sapele in a Townhall meeting he organized to hear from the grassroots on Sunday, Senator Omo-Agege, disclosed that the Senate received the petition and has committed it to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition for investigation, add that the purpose for the Town Hall meeting was to abreast with the position of the people of Sapele as it affects the power situation.
Said he: “I requested for a petition to be drafted so I can present same to the Senate. It took a while but eventually, the petition got to me and I have presented it on the floor of the Senate. The petition has been debated and referred to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition.
“I’m confident that by the time some of you appear before the Committee and it finishes its work, the refrain, ‘No light, No Peace’ would change.”
Senator Omo-Agege, who assured the people of Sapele to remain calm while the Senate goes about addressing the issue from the national level, adding that he has to champion the cause of the people as he is their representative at the Senate.
He used the occasion to inform the people that apart from the power supply issue which he is handling at the Senate, he had succeeded in allocating fund to the construction of the Sapele-Agbor dual carriageway in the 2017 budget, adding that any moment from now the contractor would mobilized to site starting from the Sapele axis of the highway.
Omo-Agege also informed that come end of June 2017, he would organize a Senatorial briefing at the Urhobo House in Ovwiamuge in Ughelli North, adding that he would then give account of his two years stewardship at the Senate to the people of Delta Central Senatorial District.
Earlier, several participants at the meeting had narrated the level of suffering Sapele people are undergoing because of poor power supply to the town. Of particular note was the presentation of Comrade Benson Okorodudu who gave details of the several meetings representatives of the town had had with the managements of the BEDC, the two power generating stations in Ogorode-Sapele, the State governor, Dr. Okowa, the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the Commanding Officer of the JTF, Koko over the poor power supply to the town. According to Okorodudu, economic activities of the town had come to almost a halt as the town could hardly enjoy 90 hours of power supply in a month.
Present at the occasion were prominent leaders of Sapele community including the Local Government Council chairman, Hon. Ejaife Omizu Odebala, Chief Felix Anirah, Rev. Father Ekabo among others.
