Abuja council to light-up city as authority

The Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), has expressed readiness to ensure that adequate street lightining to illuminate and save the city from darkness.

In addition to the plan, which it is executing with Abuja Electricity Distributing Company (AEDC), out of 22 generating sets expected for the project, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said that it has taken delivery of five, installed and is already using them to ensure a brighter city at night.

Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Hajiya Safiya Umar, who made this disclose during a meeting with the contractors of the project in her office last week, revealed that some of the street lights currently being powered by the newly installed generators are those on Herbert Macaulay Way, NEPA Junction, Wuse Zone 6 among others.

Addressing both the street lights and generating set contractors, Hajiya Umar tasked them to “always work hand in hand to attain the goal of brighter streets at night,” adding: “if there is no synergy among all the contractors, we will be in perpetual darkness.

“Do not strive to outshine one another, but work together for the interest of the FCT. Always put the generating sets off when there is power from the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) so that the Administration does not pay double.

“We do not want to any excuses that there is no light, because the FCT Administration expects to see minimal vandalization of transformers and other facilities. There should be no gap. If any gap exists, quickly report to supervisors who are civil servants assigned on monitoring of the operation of both the contractors.”

Another advantage of this move, she averred was the fact that “the AEDC was gingering up to finish the metering,” knowing fully that billing for electricity consumption in this regard would automatically go down.

She also called for 24-hour surveillance of the transformers, noting that “though they belong to AEDC. Any event of darkness will set the babambola to work in vandalization. Unless you want us to be sacked, work hand in hand. The Hon. Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello wants the streets in the city to be as bright as 20 years ago when the nights were like days in the city.

“Feel free to make suggestions that would bring about improvements whenever you observe there should be a better way of doing things. No one has monopoly of knowledge. Nigeria belongs to all of us, so we have to be diligent, honest, dedicated and patriotic in all we do. Who thought that change (change of contractors) was possible, but here we are; so make the change worthwhile so that we do not regret making it.”

One of the street light contractors, Engr. Jerome Egbo while speaking later stated that maintaining “street light was a tedious job”, decrying high level of fake materials in the market.

Engr. Egbo however, expressed concern that “sometimes, AEDC people deliberately switch off light to frustrate us (street light contractors) during trouble shooting”, adding that the contractors would collaborate and also maintain a cordial working relationship with the AEDC.

Another contractor, Engr. Aniekan Otuk who also spoke assured that there would be no more darkness on Abuja streets as light.

Abuja Digest Weekly can authoritatively report that the Administration has contracted no fewer than eight street lights contractors to handle maintenance of Abuja city street lights, and five contractors for the generating sets.