Ogun residents groan over two-month blackout

Residents of Alamo in the Magboro area of Ogun State are struggling with the effects of a two-month-long power outage, which has disrupted their businesses, made food preservation difficult and worsened the impact of the heat.

PUNCH Metro learnt from residents in separate interviews on Tuesday that the blackout began in August after the community’s transformer developed a fault.

According to the residents, they were forced to contribute money to repair the faulty transformer, but officials of the electricity distribution company have yet to complete its installation and reconnect the community to the power supply.

“The electricity situation in my area is honestly heartbreaking. It is quite sad that in 2026, something as basic as electricity has become a luxury,” said a businesswoman residing in the community, who identified herself only as Glory.

“We raised the money, and the transformer was fixed. More than a month later, the officials have yet to complete the connection. We are still without electricity.”

Glory added that electricity supply in the community had been unreliable even before the transformer developed a fault.

“Power is shared with neighbouring communities. Light sometimes comes once every two or three days, lasts about six hours, and often arrives at midnight only to vanish before dawn.

“Whenever electricity comes on, everyone rushes to get things done because nobody knows how long it will last. I have had to wake up in the middle of the night to wash clothes, pump water and preserve food,” she said.

Another resident, Chineye Jacinta, who moved into the community in October 2025, said the last time residents enjoyed steady electricity was around August 27, before the transformer developed a fault.

She said that when power supply briefly resumed recently, it lasted only two hours.

“They brought the light this morning. You should have seen how happy we were around 11am, only to lose it around 1pm. We were hoping they would bring it back, but they didn’t.

“At least it came. It was a symbol of hope that the transformer had been fixed. We keep our fingers crossed,” she said.

Jacinta said the prolonged blackout had made the heat unbearable, while the high cost of running generators had made it difficult for residents to cope.

“The blackout has made the heat unbearable. Cold water is a memory. Generators are too expensive to run for long. Fridges stay off. Food spoils. Water must be pumped with a neighbour’s generator after contributing for fuel,” she said.

Glory also lamented the difficulty of preserving food without electricity, saying her generator could not adequately power her refrigerator.

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“I honestly cannot remember the last time I had cold drinking water at home. Our generator cannot power the refrigerator properly. We cook almost every day because we cannot store food,” she said.

Jacinta said she had resorted to using portable solar-powered fans at night to cope with the heat.

“I carry my solar fans home after work at the shop. After my shower, I use them until they die. Sometimes they go off in the middle of the night, and I have to take another shower or remove some of my clothes. It’s been crazy,” she said.

The blackout has also affected small businesses in the community, particularly shops that depend on electricity to preserve drinks and other perishable goods. Residents now have to walk farther to larger stores that can afford to run generators for extended periods.

Meanwhile, residents also expressed frustration over electricity bills issued despite the prolonged outage.

A small business owner, Osayande Katherine, said she had no choice but to pay the bills whenever they were brought.

“I just have to pay when bills are brought. That’s business for you; sometimes there’s profit, and sometimes there isn’t,” she said.

Jacinta, however, questioned the estimated billing system, saying residents were charged even when they had gone weeks without electricity.

“There were two weeks straight that we didn’t have light, but the bill still came. I feel they should look into it. What they estimate is not what we used,” she said.

Contacted on Wednesday, the spokesperson for Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, Angela Olarewaju, directed our correspondent to speak to another official identified as Daniel Adugbo.

Adugbo, on the other hand, told our correspondent that the matter would be directed to the company’s technical team for details.

However, the company had yet to provide details surrounding the blackout as of the time this report was filed.