How long has it been since I last felt the need to be provided for by the government? I learnt to manage my expectations to avoid disappointments but truth be told it has not been fully effective. I found myself in a strange neighbourhood that is like no other I have known. I have been living here for the past four months undergoing my NYSC service which has been a bitter sweet experience. The first day I arrived here from camp, seeing how peaceful everywhere is, I was glad to finally have a break from the noise in the city little did I know I will be facing a challenge that I never anticipated.
On my first day here, there was electricity and I was glad that at least among a lot of things that the community lacks electricity is not one of them, I plunged in my power bank and decided to make use of my phone. One of the corp member that has been residing in this community long before I came walked into my room, saw me making use of my phone and couldn't stop staring at me in a strange way. At some point I felt the need to ask him for the reason behind his strange look and he began to laugh so loud that I felt really stupid for asking. I kept thinking what could I have done to warrant such an unpleasant gesture from him.
Along the line he must have noticed I was displeased with his reaction, he stopped laughing and said, do you know how long it has been since we last saw electricity in this community but then here you are making use of your phone while there is electricity. I guess that moment I got the full gist, it turns out that anytime people in this community are opportune have to electricity, they quickly charge all their devices because they don't know when next they will be privileged to have electricity again.
They say if you live long enough in a community, you would be able to tell their stories. For the past four months have been here, I have seen electricity not more than five times and it barely last for 2-3 hours before it is gone, It turns out I was lucky, the number increased because we were given electricity a couple of times during the EID festival. For a stranger like me I still feel the need for the villages to advocate for good electricity but it seems they don't really care about such matters, that was what I thought.
Eventually I got to know that stakeholders in the community have tried their best to reach out to both local and state government but all they got were false promises and hope. The only time government officials comes here is during election and immediately they achieve their objectives they abandon the community leaving them with lies about a better future.
There is a limit to the feeling of disappointment, it seems the populace of Owotoro community, a sector of ATISBO local government in Oyo state have gotten tired of all the promises to the extent they no longer reach out to any one for help. In so doing they are left in darkness which has become all they will ever know. I mean they longer miss electricity, they accept it whenever it comes and when it does not they move on with their lives.
Electricity is no longer a need for the populace of this community, they have found ways to live their lives without electricity, that is why business opportunities are very low here, the most prominent business enterprise here is charging business. Which happens to be the only thing that allows the populace of this community to keep their devices charged. Only few people here make use of solar system to power their houses, it seems that is the only solution to their impediment.
The lack of electricity in this small community is not just because the government has failed to provide for the community. When I say government, I speak of government at the federal level because it turns out that there has been allocation from the federal government to address this specific issue but it is still the duty of the state of government to do the needful but in this cases, the allocation always finds it way to the local government but they always chose to use it for other personal things that matters. As a result of this, Owotoro community has been condemned to total darkness as a result of mankind greed and unprecedented corruption of the government at the local level.
How do I cope with this? Well I try to cope with it the same way the villagers have been coping for years. I charge my devices from those who offer the service and sometimes in church. Well I'm planning on getting a portable solar device to ensure my stay here is less hellish than it should be.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled "Just one infrastructure" in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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