Orimerunmu: Ogun community plagued by 20 years of darkness

Residents of Orimerunmu community in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State have endured years of inadequate infrastructure, even as neighbouring communities continue to develop. In this report, BIODUN BUSARI writes about residents’ anguish over the deplorable state of the community’s major road, crippling power supply and the absence of licensed refuse collectors, which raises serious health concerns

As darkness descended on his one-room workshop, built in front of his three-bedroom bungalow, Mr Basiru Gbada, a 63-year-old welder, intermittently wiped sweat from his face with the hem of his brown overall.

He hastily struck a metallic object with a hammer, the sharp clang of metal punctuating the quiet evening.

A fan hung on the wall, while a white bulb was attached to the ceiling, but neither was switched on. Instead, a blue plastic hand fan rested on a black box of tools in a corner, while a solar-powered lamp provided the light he needed to carry on with his job.

The sexagenarian artisan’s experience is a reflection of life in Orimerunmu, a developing Ogun community where residents painfully struggle with inadequate infrastructure.

“This is my life. That’s how we live here. I can’t only speak for myself, but my situation is a portrait of the people in this community. It’s a tug of war to have basic amenities,” Gbada said with a wry smile.

“We go about our daily business with suffering because the government doesn’t reckon with this community. We don’t have light regularly. Even if you have a solar-powered light and fan, its effectiveness can’t be compared with the electricity from the distribution companies.”

“I have lived like this almost all my life. I came to buy land in this community when it was still a thick forest as far back as 2006. The first settlers sacrificed a lot. We bought a transformer and poles to get light. At some point, the community had steady electricity; then later, it degenerated, and the whole thing became worse.”

Gbada told Saturday PUNCH that the landlords had lodged complaints several times with the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, which distributes electricity to the area, asking it to look into the matter, but no solution was in sight.

“I have given up on the issue of light. There was a time the whole community would not have light for weeks. Sometimes, the bulbs wouldn’t blink for a month. It has become a plight of darkness mixed with hopelessness,” the welder lamented.

In the early days of his settlement, he would attend landlords’ meetings to find solutions to communal problems, including taking turns with other house owners to watch over the neighbourhood in the dead of silent, scary nights with just a whistle and torchlight.

“This place is peaceful and secure. Some of us have sacrificed our resources as first comers. I have contributed money to buy a transformer and even maintain it, including the purchase of cables, poles and other resources many years back, but to discover we still dwell in darkness is totally frustrating and disturbing,” the old man said.

Solar power community

In her shop, attending to customers who came to buy frozen foods, Catherine, a trader who has resided in the locality for nearly a decade, said the communal plight was a tale of frustration and dashed hope.

The woman, who revealed that she moved to the area nine years ago with her husband, said electricity supply was steady when they relocated, but the problems began in 2023.

She lamented that this crippled her business, and she had to invest in alternatives.

According to her, even small stabilisers would not come to the rescue on days when the electricity came with very low current.

She said, “We enjoyed regular electricity and we paid for what we used. But, all of a sudden, the light became poor around three years ago or thereabouts. We might not see light for weeks, and sometimes two months. And, if it was restored, it would be as good as nothing.

“You can’t have full current. The light can’t be used for ironing clothes; it can’t charge phones, not to talk of watching television or using a blender with it. It has to be supported with stabilisers. On worse days, even low-voltage stabilisers cannot help prevent one’s goods from getting spoilt. The worst scenario about the so-called electricity is that you don’t get it during the day; it is always at night.”

The woman recalled that when the issues of erratic power supply were raised, the distribution company officials blamed it on transformers, noting that this made property owners resort to installing solar power systems and buying generators.

Catherine said, “After we became landlords, my husband and I also installed solar power, mainly for my business. The project gulped millions of naira for the panels, inverter, installation and the rest. The sad thing is that you can’t compare it with electricity.

“The distribution company officials said there were many loads on the transformer, but from my understanding, the loads should have been reduced. We have contributed money many times for the maintenance of the transformer. If it’s not money to cover something today, it will be for buying cables tomorrow; it is just frustrating. We never run out of different stories. As a result, you can’t boast of 10 hours of light in a week. In some cases, you have one hour or three hours. It’s just crazily unpredictable.”

The experience, according to her, impacted her business, while customers also bore the brunt.

She added that residents had tried, but the government seemed less concerned about their predicament.

“Solar is very expensive. There are some things solar can’t do, especially during the rainy seasons. I use two big batteries that should be changed every two years. This will be our second time changing the batteries. If the light is regular with full current, it is better than solar. But what do you do in the case where you don’t have both? You lose customers because people buy their products from Lagos.

“So, there is also the problem of bad roads because I spend extra money to bring my frozen foods from Lagos. The drivers complain about our roads in Orimerunmu and charge me extra. I don’t have a choice other than to also increase the prices of the products sold to customers,” Catherine added.

Use and dump

Orimerunmu is a community situated between Ibafo and Mowe, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, with modern residential buildings springing up.

At the entrance to the place, a fleet of commercial motorcyclists welcome residents and visitors, offering their services as they bargain fares to various destinations.

The okada men, as they are fondly called, usually remind passengers that the roads are bad when negotiations for fares are ongoing.

The Orimerunmu Road is the link to all the neighbourhoods, including Unity Estate, Diamond Estate, Lion Power, Orita Federal, Abule and others.

An investigation by our correspondent revealed that minibuses, known as korope, and tricycles, also referred to as keke, don’t ply the roads because of their deplorable state.

Another resident, who preferred to speak anonymously, alleged that politicians usually come during election periods to campaign, promising to fix the roads and solve the issue of electricity, without fulfilling their promises.

“All manner of politicians have exploited this community. They would come and campaign during elections, promising to rehabilitate the roads and give us transformers, but all they do is fail to fulfil their promises. They just use and dump us,” the source said.

“Just a few months ago, they came again, begging people to register for Permanent Voter Cards. They went a long way to provide a canopy for residents to sit, but we know that after they get our votes, they will be gone as always.

“Even a former governor and senator in this state has campaigned in this community before, promising heaven and earth. But where is he now? Where are others from the state and grassroots levels as well?”

An e-hailing driver, Moses Akpan, who has lived in the community for four years, described the situation as “a pathetic story.”

He told Saturday PUNCH that the community could not account for any basic amenities it had benefited from the government.

Akpan said most times, he doesn’t drive his car home after closing from work, especially late at night, due to the bad state of the link road.

“I just park it at the filling station by the bus stop and board a bike home. I pay N1,000 for parking, N500 for a bike home and another N500 for a bike back to where my vehicle is parked the next morning. It’s a pathetic story that we’ve been coping with.

“The road from the junction was not tarred, and it becomes a problem during the rainy and dry seasons. The bike men charge exorbitant prices from passengers who don’t have any choice. They can charge as high as N1,000, depending on where you are going, especially at late hours. But for us who use Bolt or Uber, the apps fix our prices.”

Burning refuse

A fashion designer, simply identified as Kemi, lamented that the electricity that attracted her to Orimerunmu had not only become worse, but completely unreliable.

According to her, when she was departing Iju-Ishaga for Orimerunmu in 2021, her solace was escaping the hustle and bustle, epileptic power supply and expensive rent in Lagos to enjoy a serene environment, consistent electricity and cheaper rent in Obafemi-Owode LGA.

“Whenever I came to this community, the light often enticed me, and we decided to relocate. When we moved in, the food in the freezer would be frozen, so you would be happy to preserve it. But the benefits were short-lived. The light later became problematic. We might not have light for three weeks or one month, especially during the dry seasons,” she said.

The fashion entrepreneur said the IBEDC authorities resorted to a sharing formula of three days on and two days off. But, according to her, the resolution was only a theoretical remedy that did not translate into reality.

Kemi said, “When it is time for on, expectedly 60 hours, you’ll see light for five hours. At best, 10 hours. It could be what you get for a week. Mind you, it might not be a full current. It is as useless as nothing. It will be just bulbs to bring light. You can’t use it to pump water; we use generators to pump water. Sometimes, some houses will have light; some won’t. Still, the Discos officials will bring bills and threaten to disconnect the light. It’s just a few houses that have prepaid meters.

“This epileptic power supply has lingered more than it should. So, I have a solar and a generator for my business, but the solar cannot do what electricity will do. For instance, ironing clothes and attaching stones to clothes and other heavy work that uses light, both generators and solar don’t have the capacity to do it.

“The option I came up with is gas. I bought gas cylinders. I fill them to do some of the work. I use them with pressing irons. And when you bill customers to pay for all these alternatives, they get angry and take their clothes to Lagos and other places where electricity is not a problem.”

She narrated that the major road from the expressway to the inward streets also contributed to one of the reasons waste trucks from the Ogun State Waste Management Authority don’t collect refuse in the community.

“Residents in this community burn refuse in front of their houses. The waste collectors from the state don’t bring their trucks here. And you know where the problem is: the poor state of the road. So, everyone burns their refuse.

• Ogun First Lady bags Master’s 35 years after first degree
• Police arrest suspected vehicle theft kingpin in Ogun, recover stolen car
• Governors, not Tinubu, should account for subsidy gains – Abiodun

“I dug a hole in our compound where we dump refuse and burn. Some who can’t do that have concrete rings in front of their property to put it there and burn later. Some people pay those who carry the refuse and dump it at a dunghill at Orita Federal. The problem is that during the rainy season, it is difficult to burn the refuse.

Sitting calmly on a couch in her shop, a digital photographer, Basirat, told Saturday PUNCH that her business had suffered a setback.

She recounted that her husband, an artisan, was one of the early settlers from Oyo State.

According to her, He was well-travelled and discovered the community to have development potential in the future and subsequently bought land, built a house, and relocated them.

“It’s been 15 years since we relocated to Orimerunmu. I coped with living in darkness, but it is a story that chooses not to have an ending. The same goes for the road. It is dusty during the dry season and muddy during the rainy season.

“The dust has damaged some of the equipment for my photography and videography business. Some are repairable, and some are not. My apprentices take turns to clean the glass doors, the furniture and other tools. When it rains, bikes and other vehicles splash mud on the glass.

“Even with solar, there are some lamination tasks that cannot be done because the machines require high voltage. This makes people to take their work to Ibafo, Magboro and Mowe. People who work in Lagos do some of their stuff there,” Basirat said.

Insisting that the government has an enormous role to play in enabling Orimerunmu to enjoy basic amenities, she concluded that she has witnessed failed promises, but only time will justify her stay in the Ogun community.

“I have heard stories of the government awarding the road project many times, only for it to fizzle out. I experienced many years of the road being graded, but that’s where it ends. The politicians raise people’s hopes whenever it’s election year, only to crush them. Time will tell if the residents get the dividends of democracy,” Basirat said with indignation.

Band issues, road project

One of the executives of the landlords’ association in Diamond Estate, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to speak with the press, provided more insights into the three major problems facing the community.

“There was only one transformer that the community was using before, and that was when the problem started as more people came in. But as more transformers were bought, the load on it should be reduced,” the landlord said.

“When we were all under one umbrella of Unity Estate, we started encountering the problem. But now, with time, people started getting different Community Development Associations. As we split into different CDAs, the light gets better in terms of low current, but we haven’t got an answer to the erratic supply.

“Anytime the discos officials come, the explanation they offer is that the issue of bands is affecting us. The community is not under Bands A, B or even C. This is the result of the light we get. Truly, it affects this community,” he lamented.

“Concerning the road, I heard that the project has been awarded, but I don’t know if it has a political undertone, as we are yet to see any meaningful execution. Some churches and companies do collaborate with the community to grade the road occasionally.

“I have lived in this community for 20 years, as far back as 2006. There were only a few houses when I relocated. The community bought its transformers, poles and cables. Having said all this, the community is developing,” the source said.

Lending his voice, another executive in the same area, Dr Chris Gbemisola, who migrated four years ago, said trucks that use the long road contribute to its bad shape and that this is the reason the Ogun State-approved private sector participation waste operators don’t come to the area.

“In fact, there are trucks that ply the road, bringing sand from a dredging firm popularly called Oniyanrin. Those heavy trucks, like 15 or 20 in a day, may be on the road, damaging it in the process. That’s why we don’t have PSP trucks coming into this place,” Gbemisola said.

He said the dredging company collaborated with the community to grade the road as a way of giving back to society, but it often remains a temporary intervention.

“The company used to give some percentage of money, added to the community’s contribution, to grade the road, but it is not a lasting solution,” he added.

The omo onile syndrome

One of the commercial motorcyclists plying the community, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the indigenous youths of the community, widely known as omo onile, are one of the limiting factors to the development of Orimerunmu.

“There were times that companies in the community partnered to construct the road, but the omo onile demanded N40m. They didn’t allow them to start the project. It was quite disgusting. How can people want to help your community and you still want to extort them?” he queried.

“They are the ones in charge of collecting different charges from us after issuing tickets. But they don’t use the money for the community. They still use their hooliganism and selfish interests to block the project meant to help the residents,” the motorcyclist said.

Another source substantiated this, saying that a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God wanted to solely award the road project but was met with the impediment of the hooligan youths, who demanded N5m before the project could start.

“The pastor angrily diverted the project and went to a nearby community to start the road project and linked it to Ibafo,” the resident said.

Smoke-related health hazards

Speaking on the immediate and long-term health risks associated with such a community, the Director of the Medical Centre of the Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos, Dr Rotimi Adesanya, said the residents are predisposed to smoke-related hazards due to the incessant burning of refuse”

“The majority of those who are not regular smokers unconsciously inhale particles and gases, such as products of combustion, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide, which affect the lungs.

“These are gases that are very harmful to the body when they combine with the blood. Also, in the long term, they can lead to lung cancer. These irritants or pollutants, as we may call them, are risk factors for lung cancer. So, when too much is deposited in the lungs, the person becomes predisposed to lung cancer,” Adesanya said.

The public health expert further revealed that the residents in the area can also suffer from asthma because of their predisposition to those particles, adding that dusty roads during the dry season can cause reactive diseases.

“We discovered that a lot of people in this environment can have asthma or asthma-like symptoms as a result of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

“So, for the dusty road, that one brings the most allergies. When the person inhales a lot of dust, they will develop allergic diseases. They will start sneezing and have catarrh. They are reactive airway diseases because the airway is trying to react to the dust that they are inhaling.

“Also, they are prone to pneumonia, which is inflammation of the lungs. The commonest form of pneumonia in our environment is infection, which could be bacterial. But there is one due to irritants and pollutants from the environment, like smoke and dust. Those ones are called chemical pneumonitis. What people in the area should do is to cover their nostrils with a nose mask as they travel those dusty roads.”

Heart attack risks

Also, an environmental health expert at the Africa Environmental Health Organisation, Abuja, Abiodun Afolabi, told Saturday PUNCH that the particulate gases are poisonous and might cause heart attacks among the residents.

He warned that such an area has health risks that can lead to people collapsing, usually resulting in death if safety measures are not provided.

“Some of these are environmental health issues that need to be addressed by the authorities and the residents. The particles can cause or trigger asthmatic diseases or lead to heart attacks. Electricity is the best alternative, but renewable energy is preferred to petrol or diesel generators.

“The government and the people need to work on the urban planning system. Some areas are not accessible to PSPs to collect waste, making residents burn their waste. It is a serious environmental issue that poses health risks to the people, so it is very important for the roads and other infrastructure to be provided,” Afolabi said.

TCN-related deficiencies

Speaking to our correspondent, the Business Manager of IBEDC, Mowe-Ibafo, Brume Brume, linked the shortage of power in Orimerunmu to defects from the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the federally owned utility corporation distributing electricity across the nation.

He said TCN mostly supplies inadequate megawatts to discos, which in turn ration them among the communities despite their demands and pains.

“We have a great deficiency from the transmission end, and I mean the TCN supplying to all discos, which borders on the load limitations and load restrictions.

“For instance, if there is a need for 18 megawatts to service the entire area, what transmission gives us is four megawatts. And they tell us to drop the load here and there. That’s why they have those restrictions.

“If we are supposed to have electricity at 4pm on a particular day and we call the TCN, and they say there is no supply, we can’t do anything until they supply power.”

The IBEDC official added that the Mowe-Ibafo axis, which includes Orimerunmu and other areas along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, is an offshoot of Lagos’ sprawling population in Ogun State and continually demands more infrastructure, including electricity.

“Let’s look at it from this angle: the Mowe-Ibafo axis is an extension of Lagos. When the infrastructure of Ogun State was built, let’s say, 10 to 20 years ago, the population could be 200,000 people, but now, it would have been more than triple, if not more than five times, and don’t forget we’re still working with the existing infrastructure,” he added.