IGBOZURUOKE MEDIA

Human rights activist, Francis Nwapa, has expressed his backing for residents of the Okokomaiko area of Lagos State in resisting attempts by officials of the Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (Ikeja Electric) to disconnect their community light after weeks of prolonged blackout.

A video circulating on social media had showed residents of the community in physical exchange as they resisted the power distribution company officials who attempted to disconnect their community light.

The confrontation reportedly followed attempts by electricity officials to enforce bill payments in the community despite residents complaining of near-total power outages lasting several weeks.

Reacting to the incident, Nwapa in a statement issued on Friday described the residents’ action as a “courageous stand” against systemic exploitation in Nigeria’s power sector.

“I commend the courageous residents of Okokomaiko who stood firm against officials of Ikeja Electric Distribution, attempting to disconnect their community despite subjecting them to weeks of total darkness,” Nwapa said. 

“This act of collective resistance is a powerful example of what working-class solidarity can achieve in the face of injustice.”

Nwapa criticized Nigeria’s privatized electricity system, describing it as exploitative and anti-poor.

“This situation clearly exposes the failure, and more importantly, the deliberate cruelty, of the privatized power sector imposed on Nigerians by thieving capitalist elites and their imperialist collaborators,” he said.

He added that millions of Nigerians are being forced to pay high electricity tariffs without reliable supply, citing the controversial band classification system.

“The so-called Band classification system is nothing but a tool of exploitation, where some households are made to pay as much as ₦90,000 monthly in a country where the minimum wage is ₦70,000,” he said.

The activist also dismissed recent public apologies and explanations by the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who attributed power outages across the country to gas shortages.

“The apology by the Minister of Power blaming gas shortages for the persistent outages is not only inadequate but deceptive. Nigeria is abundantly rich in gas resources, yet continues to flare gas daily,” Nwapa stated.

Nwapa further blamed the President Bola Tinubu’s administration for worsening economic hardship through policies affecting electricity and other essential services.

“The Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress regime has, since May 2023, intensified the suffering of the masses through subsidy removal, electricity tariff hikes, naira devaluation, and the commercialization of essential services,” he said.

He described as unjust the reported allocation of ₦17 billion for solar power at the Presidential Villa while many Nigerians remain without electricity.

“The height of this injustice is the allocation of ₦17 billion to power the Presidential Villa with solar energy, while the masses remain in darkness and are forced to pay exploitative tariffs,” he said.

The Okokomaiko protest is part of a growing wave of unrest across Lagos communities and other parts of Nigeria in recent weeks, as residents increasingly push back against electricity distribution companies (DisCos) over erratic power supply and exploitative estimated billing.

Many communities have complained of being placed on high tariff bands despite receiving little or no electricity supply, while small business owners say the outages have crippled their livelihoods, forcing reliance on expensive diesel and petrol generators.

Civil society groups have also accused DisCos of prioritizing revenue collection over service delivery, a claim the companies have repeatedly denied, often citing challenges such as gas supply constraints, vandalism, and inadequate infrastructure.

Nwapa called for sweeping reforms in the power sector, including reversing tariff hikes and restructuring ownership.

He demanded, “Immediate reversal of electricity tariff hikes; abolition of the discriminatory Band classification system; full nationalization of the power sector under democratic workers’ control and management; massive public investment in generation, transmission, and distribution; and democratic oversight by workers, consumers, and communities.”

Nwapa noted that decades of investment have failed to improve electricity supply.

“Despite trillions spent since 1999, Nigeria still struggles to generate beyond 3,000MW for over 200 million people, while South Africa with a population of 63 million generates 58,000MW. This is the bankruptcy of backward capitalism laid bare,” he said.

The activist urged Nigerians to organize and resist policies he described as anti-people.

“I call on communities, trade unions, youth, and all oppressed Nigerians to organize, mobilize, and resist these anti-people policies. The resistance in Okokomaiko must spread in various communities across the country.”

(Sahara Reporters)