10 March 2015, Abeokuta – Ilisan community traders in Ogun state have contracted the services of solar experts to find solutions for efficient electricity delivery to boost their businesses, in view of the poor power supply, which has lingered for a long period.
President, Tailoring Union, Ikenne Local Government, Mr Olayiwola Rasheed, decried that power supply in the community had gone very bad, and urged fellow traders to seek other alternative power sources like solar for small scale businesses to thrive.
He said: “We have been asking ourselves a very bold question like what has the community done to warrant this ill treatment from the DISCOs. It is so bad that we cannot boast of three hours of power supply a day or sometimes in a week.
“For the past one year, we have been faced with this lingering issue of poor power supply, with no hope for improvement to boost our businesses and other uses of power.
“As such, we have sought for an alternative power source which is solar for our SMEs in the community. We are looking forward to the use of solar panels as an end to the prevailing conditions.”
Also, the Vice Chairman of the Barbers Association, Mr. Samson Adebayo, argued that the very poor electricity supply situation has even deprived them of a descent means of livelihood.
“Most times, we don’t earn anything tangible for the day. It has become so bad that we have to live on generators and still pay bills monthly irrespective of whether or not we receive power in that month.”
The African Contractor for Solar Kits for change, Mr. Harry Olupitan, said his company developed the project because of the epileptic power situation in the country.
According to him, Renewable Energy for Clean Environment & Development, launched the project to provide a better opportunity for Barbers to be able to use their clippers for at least 10 straight hours without the fear of power failure.
He explained that the panels can be guaranteed for up to 25 years before going for a change, while urging users to always maintain and clean the panels for better services, as dust and other cloudy substances can undermine the longevity of the device.
– Vanguard