A real sign of mismanagement of resources

if i were the manager of PHCN i would sack whosoever was in charge, imagine pure negligent.

The fire at Mende Power Station

Residents of Mende, Maryland, Ketu, Ikosi and Ikeja GRA would be without electricity supply for an unspecified number of days following the fire that gutted a part of the Mende Power Station, Maryland on Monday.

The Power Station which supplies electricity to these areas has been unable to generate electricity following the fire on Monday afternoon.

According to Sam Nwaire, business manager of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Ikeja District, the fire started as a result of “equipment failure”.

“The fire started yesterday around 12.58pm,” he said. “Before the failure, we have already made arrangement on how to replace that equipment. The replacement is already on hand but unfortunately we lost it. Now we are doing everything possible to make sure we install the new one. We have the new one already on ground.”

Mr Nwaire further said no one was injured in the fire but did not state the extent of financial loss caused by the fire. For him, the inconvenience to consumers as a result of the power cut was most important to PHCN at this time.

“What is paramount to us is the inconvenience to our customers and that is why we are working day in day out to make sure we restore electricity. After the restoration, we can talk about the financial loss but that is not paramount to us now,” he said.

He acknowledged the effort of the Federal and State Fire service who came “promptly” to help put out the fire.

When NEXT got to the Power Station yesterday, some workers were seen clearing up the area around a building that housed some burnt transformers. A PHCN staff who spoke anonymously said the removal of the burnt transformers was going to take a good number of days.

“Those are the transformer that supplied electricity to some areas. We have to remove the burnt ones out before we can replace it,” he said.

Some witnesses to the fire recounted their experiences.

Joy Useigbe, who sells baby clothes at a kiosk beside the power station said she had to close her shop when the fire started due to the noise of the explosions.

“You should have seen this place yesterday,” she said. “Gboa! Gboa! Everywhere. Me I ran away and I came back after the fire. I was not scared that the fire will reach my shop because they were controlling it. But the noise was too much.”

Another witness, Mr Tajudeen, a resident of Ajose street, Mende, said he was watching a movie when the electricity went off.

“I was watching TV at home when the light went off,” he said. “I thought it was just their normal on and off until I started hearing the explosions. When I came out, I saw that the street was blocked because they have stopped cars from entering the street from Ikorodu road. The whole street was blocked while they were quenching the fire but the fire did not last for long.”

While many were grateful the fire did not spread to neighbouring houses, they expressed fear that the power cut would go on for weeks given the extent of the damage.

“On a normal day, we don’t usually have constant light. Now that their station has burnt, I wonder when we will see light in this area again,” said Bose Yejide, a resident of Maryland.

“For me, I have prepared myself that I would not have light for the next two or three months. Now I have to go and repair my small generator,” said Moses Udoh, a resident of Ikosi.

However, when asked how long it would take to restore electricity to the area, Mr Nwaire said “it would take a couple of days.”