At a time the United Nations made clean, affordable, renewable and sustainable energy in form of solar (SDGs 7), a goal worth pursuing before 2030; our own government under Governor Seyi Makinde decided to reverse that trend by dragging us back to the use of fossil fuel which has proven to be both damaging, catastrophic (think of Niger Delta people) and fatal in all spheres. That foot-dragging for instance is made manifest in the way the light up Oyo project has turned light off; caused primarily by skyrocket uptick in price of diesel.
Plus, for a project to cost a whooping and mind blowing #28 billion naira and still hit the brick wall in matters of months shows there is more the public need to know than they already knew. Added to this is the continuous power outage being witnessed across the state which has further darkened otherwise dark spots and made atrocities by men of the underworld even more cheery and easy. As of the time the project was launched, people expected the various beautiful street lights planted across various places to relief the electricity distribution company of its habitual work load especially in the face of eclectic and dwindling power supply from GENCOS, only to be disappointed when light up went light off!
Not surprisingly, Governor Seyi Makinde might have good intentions up his sleeve when he rolled out the light up Oyo project; but now, with available and accessible evidences across the state length and breathe, that intention now appears counterproductive and in fact almost in tattered. Given the way that project has turned out in part because of crisis rocking international oil market which has made the price of diesel jump through the roof, one is quick to ask where the thinking caps of brains behind that project was ab initio.
In a way, the fact that solar is the future of energy is no longer debatable in the face of existential challenges facing the traditional power generation model particularly the usual hydroelectric power generation. And more aptly, Nigeria can no longer toy with power generation through solar any longer. Statistically, Nigeria current taps into solar through its paltry seven (7) megawatt despite the abundance of sun in the country; compare to South Africa’s 2,323MW. Nigeria seems unprepared to explore that clean and sustainable options to tackle its perennial power problem.
As earlier posited, the intention of the Governor might be good but can that be said of others beside him? First, a streetlights powered by a diesel generator is not only counterintuitive but also off-kilter. The idea is both foreign, preposterous, strange and quite unsustainable. To understand this better, it helps to look at what must have informed the decision makers to settled for that model.
Constituency projects. Almost each local government across the state has solar street lights facilitated by various federal lawmakers in the past. Most of these lights are long abandoned, neglected and left to rot away. In that way, decision makers in respect to light up Oyo might assumed that should they opt for a complete solar street lights, it may also go the way of the lawmakers. In part because there is neither continuity nor a maintenance culture that can sustain the project long after the change of government. To be fair, this point appears plausible.
Furthermore, those various constituency projects were never handed over to anyone in particular which made its maintenance pretty difficult the moment its facilitators were kicked out of office; though, the durability of those lights must have kicked in but that’s because those were the first generation of solar street lights. In essence, this light up Oyo project was later decided to be in the custody various local government which is expected to fuel and maintain it. With the project in care of the government at the grassroot, maintenance seems no longer a problem. Or the decision makers thought.
To look at the final reason why decision makers went for a diesel powered generator, it helps to state clearly the big difference between the two arms of government, that is the executive and the legislature. In Nigerian arrangement, the Executive is much more powerful, invincible and formidable than the legislature and as such has more resources and influence at its fingertips than the lawmakers would ever dream of. So, the thinking might be simple: what can the state government do in terms of streetlights that will surpass and judo-flipped the previous interventions of federal lawmakers in the past? Answer: combine solar with fossil fuel.
Combining solar with fossil fuel might have been a masterstroke had it not for the chaotic, uncertainty and unpredictability that always surround the international oil market. And with the war between Russia and Ukraine, that uncertainty became clearly unraveled. In fact, that singular ugly trend in oil market should be enough to tweak with the thinking of those behind the light up project. Even without the war, the price of the product can still change, it’s a fluctuating commodity that changes price of other things in a jiffy.
Take the outbreak of coronavirus for example. That pandemic is another eye opener to the unpredictability of fossil fuel plus why alternative must always be explored before settling down for it. One would have thought planners of this project would take into cognizance this crucial point, but unfortunately, it didn’t occurred to them nor they didn’t deem it necessary.
Clearly, under this administration, local government no doubt, has not just been relegated and underrated, it’s currently breath through the aid of the state government – sort of being on a life support. For a tier of government whose survival is tied to the apron string of another government to have such an enormous responsibility of maintaining light up Oyo project thrust on her appears to be an afterthought. Apparently, local government as of today is powerless, almost useless when it comes to making bold decision capable of transforming people’s lives at the grassroot. The question is: How can a government whose lifeblood is in Ibadan maintain a project as demanding and gulping as this?
What even becomes the lot of the project long after this government is out of power? Posterity will definitely answer.
OYO101, is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion on issues affecting Oyo state, is published on Saturdays. He can be reached via muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850
