In January 2022, Ossiomo Power inaugurated a 40-megawatt independent power plant at Ologbo, in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, to provide electricity to the Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park and surrounding communities.
The project, which followed an earlier 55MW facility, was expected to provide an alternative to the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) and help address the persistent electricity challenges in the state. Three years down the line, the operations of the power company were disrupted as a result of an ownership dispute with its Chinese partner, CCETC, and the activities of the community’s youths.
For Esosa Monday (not real name), a computer operator in the Edo State civil service, irregular electricity supply is more than an inconvenience. It has become a workplace challenge with consequences for his productivity and professional reputation. Before the emergence of Ossiomo Power, Monday often had to contend with incomplete assignments whenever power supply failed. His inability to deliver some jobs within deadlines earned him queries from his director and, on occasions, affected his chances of being recognised among the best-performing workers in his ministry.
