For years, barbershops buzzed late into the evening, tailors stitched by steady light, restaurants and bars stayed open without high costs of bleeding diesel, hospitals ran smoothly without constant generator hum, and hotels kept their guests comfortable with uninterrupted power. Then Governor Monday Okpebholo did what even the erratic national grid could not: he plunged Edo businesses into darkness, not by accident, but by design. His recent directive disconnecting businesses from Ossiomo Power is more than a bad policy, it is reckless governance that punishes enterprise and rewards pettiness.
The facts are not in dispute. Ossiomo Power operates two lines: an 11 KVA line feeding government offices and businesses, with a substation at the Secretariat Building along Sapele Road in Benin City. The second line, a 33 KVA line, services other clusters. The previous government, in a rare show of foresight, allowed businesses and residents situated along the 11 KVA corridor to connect directly, without bearing the exorbitant cost of buying poles and wires. It was a pragmatic and deliberate decision that lowered the cost of doing business and kept entrepreneurs afloat in a hostile economy.
The impact was tangible. A tailor could keep his shop open into the night. Cold-room operators preserved their stock without massive losses. Barbers, welders, restaurants, bars and students all benefited from stable, affordable power. Hospitals could focus on saving lives without bleeding diesel budgets. Hotels could attract visitors with reliable service. In a state where generators have become a cruel tax on survival, Ossiomo provided hope.
But Okpebholo has chosen to dismantle that hope. His government now insists that the poles and wires, bought with public funds, cannot carry private connections. The order is simple and destructive: if you want Ossiomo Power, buy your own poles. Otherwise, return to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), with its unstable power supply and crushing tariffs.
This is not reform. It is sabotage. At a time when businesses are gasping under inflation and rising costs, Okpebholo has yanked away one of the few supports they had. Shops are dark, offices crippled, hospitals struggling, hotels losing guests, and livelihoods thrown into uncertainty. A governor who should be opening doors for enterprise has instead slammed them shut.
The consequences go beyond economics. They speak to vision, or the lack of it. Rather than improve on what he met, Okpebholo has reduced governance to a petty contest of undoing his predecessor. In the process, he has punished the very people he swore to serve.
Every darkened shopfront, every idle generator, every struggling family is now a reminder of leadership failure. Instead of being remembered as the governor who expanded access to affordable power, Okpebholo is fast carving the reputation of the man who pulled the plug.
But Edo people must not remain passive spectators. Business associations, opposition voices, and civic groups cannot afford to fold their arms while livelihoods are destroyed in the crossfire of petty politics. This is a moment to demand accountability, to insist that power projects funded with public resources serve the public good, not the vanity of a governor.
Edo deserves light, not this deliberate darkness. Okpebholo has become the bull in Ossiomo Power’s china shop, reckless, destructive, and blind to the wreckage left behind. He may think he is undoing his predecessor, but in truth, he is undoing Edo itself.
This opinion was written by Frederick Ehizojie, a public affairs commentator who resides in Benin City and can be reached on stateofedonow@gmail.com.
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