John Nwaigwe
EIGHT YEARS OF DARKNESS. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT DONE. THE LIGHT IS COMING.
This is the news Ohafia has waited nearly a decade to hear.
Yesterday, Hon. Ibe Okwara Osonwa joined the Abia State Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Engr. Ikechukwu Monday, to inspect the Ohafia substation at Timber Shade, Ebem Ohafia. The verdict: the Light Up Ohafia Project has crossed 75% completion, and full power restoration is targeted for the end of July 2026.
The cables have been drawn through Ihechiowa to the substation. The technical audit is complete. The aging components have been identified for replacement. The heavy lifting is largely done.
For over eight years, Ohafia Local Government Area endured a total blackout, paralysing businesses, draining the local economy, and pushing young people away. That era is now ending.
And through those eight years, Hon. Ibe Okwara Osonwa never asked Ohafia to simply wait. He took the power crisis to the floor of the House. He dragged EEDC into a reconciliation process through the House Committee on Public Petitions. He pressed NERC relentlessly. He lit fifteen markets across both LGAs with solar streetlights so traders and market women were never left in total darkness. He gave Amoba Village its first-ever dedicated transformer in history.
Every one of those was a deliberate strike against the darkness while the larger battle was being won. And now that battle is 75% won.
This is the result of a partnership that works. The advocacy and groundwork laid by Hon. Ibe Okwara Osonwa and the Deputy Governor, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu, became the catalyst. His Excellency Governor Alex Otti adopted the mission, backed it with state resources, and is bringing it home.
Eight years of darkness, ending in weeks. This is what representation that delivers looks like.
