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PEOPLES DAILY, FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012
Boosting small-scale enterprises through efficient power supply By Francis Onyeukwu
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hristopher Okezie established a welding business in Umuahia in 1972 and his business then thrived considerably because of constant power supply in the neighbourhood. With the proceeds for the welding business, 68-year-old Okezie has been able to train all his 11 children, while making some investments in real estate. But Okezie is now complaining of hard times; thanks to the poor electricity supply in Umuahia and its environs. “At the time I established this business, welding was a gold mine and that was because power supply in Umuahia was superb. “I built a house in EzeobaUmuahia, got married and recorded many other achievements because the patronage was quite high. “By all means, I am a fulfilled man as a welder because most of my children are doing well in their chosen careers; I have been able to cope with all the challenges of life with my income,’’ he says. However, Okezie laments that his business started nosediving since 1991; shortly Abia State was carved out from Imo State. “After the creation of Abia, Umuahia, the new state capital, witnessed a big population explosion, while the existing infrastructure, including power, were obviously overstretched,’’ he moans. Okezie grumbles that the power situation in Umuahia has since continued to worsen, saying: “In some areas where you have electricity, it will not be enough to power your electrical appliances and generators are very expensive to maintain.’’ Okezie’s lamentation is quite justifiable, as Mr Jude Umeh, PHCN’s Business Manager (Umuahia Unit) concedes that for a long time, the power supply situation in Umuahia has not been encouraging. He notes that Umuahia and its adjacent communities are serviced via a long 33KV line from Aba, which was constructed over 50 years ago. Umeh stresses that due to the obsolete state of the facility, electricity supply to consumers in Umuahia and its environs became somewhat poor. However, the cheering news is that electricity consumers in Umuahia and neighbouring communities will soon have a cause to smile, as a new transmission line has just been installed. The 2x40 MVA 132/133KV transmission substation and 132KV DC transmission line, constructed at Ohiya, Umuahia,
Scene of the recent bomb-damaged Shalom Church in Kaduna state.
were recently inaugurated by the Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji. The project was jointly financed by the Federal Government and the Abia State Government. Nnaji, who gave a brief history of the Ohiya substation, recalled that the contract for the project was awarded in 2001. The minister stressed that with the completion of the project, economic activities in Umuahia and its environs would soon experience a remarkable boost. He noted that the long 33KV line from Aba, was primarily designed to deliver about five megawatts of power, adding, however, that out of the figure, about two megawatts were lost during transmission. Nnaji said that the new substation would serve as a hub for four other downstream 40MVA 132/33KV transmission substations in Okigwe, Mbalano, Ohafia and Arochukwu; all set up to achieve improved power supply in Abia State. “With the completion of Ohiya substation, a transformer capacity of 80MVA, two 132KV lines and six 33KV outgoing feeders have been achieved by government,’’ he said. Nnaji, nonetheless, appealed to Abia communities to ensure the maximum protection of all PHCN facilities so as to enable them to benefit maximally from the power sector’s transformation programme. Gov. Theodore Orji expressed
happiness that the 11-year-old project was completed during his administration. He thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for fasttracking the project’s execution, pledging that his administration would continue to cooperate with the Federal Government in efforts to improve the people’s living standards. Orji, however, expressed optimism that the power situation in the state would further improve whenever the Geometric Power Plant and the Federal Government’s Integrated Power Plant at Alaoji, near Aba, started functioning. Mr Olusola Akinniranye, the Chief Executive Officer, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), gave the assurance that electricity consumers in Umuahia and its environs would soon start enjoying constant power supply. He commended the governor for resolving contentious issues regarding the right of way for the construction of 33KV feeders, as well as the provision of other logistics for the entire projects. Mr Ugochukwu Emezue, the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Orji, said that the completion of Ohiya substation was one of the dividends of democracy jointly provided by the Federal Government and the Abia State Government for the people of the state. He noted that the economic activities in the affected areas had started to pick up, adding
that the state government invested over N1.5 billion in the project to complement the Federal Government’s investments. “Before now, people spent a lot of money in powering their generators in offices and at home; with the inauguration of the Ohiya station, however, all these monies will be channelled into other ventures. “Firms spent huge amount of money to procure diesel for their generators but with the inauguration of Ohiya station, the story has inevitably changed. “Many people have sent congratulatory messages to Gov. Orji for his efforts towards the completion of the Ohiya project,’’ he said. Emezue, nonetheless, attributed the project’s completion, more than a decade after the award of its contract, to a robust working relationship between the Abia State Government and the Federal Government. He, however, appealed to artisans, traders and entrepreneurs, who hitherto relied on using generators for their various businesses, to reduce their prices of their wares due to the decrease in production costs engendered by improved power supply. He conceded that since the inauguration of the Ohiya substation, his expenses on buying diesel for his generator had drastically reduced due to the enhanced power supply. Besides, Emezue said that
electricity transformers would soon be distributed to communities, including those in the rural areas, noting, however, that that some communities had refused to install the transformers they collected from government. He appealed to the people of the state to guard all the public projects sited in their areas. He, however, urged the government to prevail on PHCN to install pre-paid meters across the state so as to enable consumers to have value for their money. Okezie succinctly underscored the need for the prepaid meters, saying that many people had been complaining of outrageous and inconsistent energy bills because PHCN officials “don’t often come around to read the meters’’. However, observers say that there has been a remarkable improvement in power supply to Abia communities since the inauguration of the Ohiya substation. Commending the government for the project, the observers, nonetheless, urge the government to press PHCN to install pre-paid meters across the state to foster hitch-free electricity distribution to the people. They also want other states to emulate the partnership between the Federal Government and Abia State Government which resulted in the successful completion of Ohiya power project. Source: NAN