39th remembrance: Meet first Ogbomoso electrical contractor, who ‘electrified’ Akintola’s House, Awolowo’s, others’

Image caption: Pa Adesina

39^th remembrance: Meet first Ogbomoso electrical contractor, who ‘electrified’ Akintola’s House, Awolowo’s, others’

Yinka ADETUNJI

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Pa Prince Abraham Aderounmu Adeshina Alasoko of Alasoko compound, Ogbomoso, Oyo state, is regarded as the first electrical contractor in the Princely city of Ogbomoso; he left an impact that entrenched his footprints as an icon in history. He passed away 39 years ago, on 31^st October, 1987.

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He cut his teeth as an electrical engineer at the Nigerian Electricity Supply Corporation Ltd (NESCO), in Bukuru, near Jos, in today’s Plateau state, between 1930 and 1958. His leaving NESCO was occasioned by Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola GCON (second and last Premier of the defunct Western Region), who invited him home to “electrify his hometown.”

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NESCO is Nigeria’s pioneer private, investor-owned electric utility company, which commenced operations in 1929 during the colonial era, with headquarters at 10, Barakin Ladi Road, Bukuru. Its core functions are generation, transmission, distribution, supply, and retail of electricity to domestic, industrial, and mining consumers, as well as bulk power supply to state governments and rural networks. The company operates 7 dedicated hydroelectric power stations alongside thermal sources, featuring an annual capacity of approximately 175 GWhrs (and a hydro capacity around 26 MW).

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Late Pa Aderounmu became the engineer in charge of NESCO, gathering immense experience in the line of business. He thus became the obvious choice when electrification projects were to start in Ogbomoso and elsewhere. A close associate of both Chief Akintola and Chief Obafemi Awolowo (first Premier), the two leading lights in Yorubaland during the period, he was saddled with the electrification of their residences just as they awarded him a lot of other projects to execute. He became a big-time electrical contractor and executed several electrical projects that were the foundation of electricity supply in not only Ogbomoso but Western Nigeria as a whole. He did that of Baptist Hospital (now Bowen University Teaching Hospital), and General Hospital, both in Ogbomoso, among others.

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Late Pa Aderounmu was also a facilitator in the development of Ogbomoso Water Works in the early 1960s, that ensured pipe-borne water supply in the city. A patriot, he would be remembered as a one of the builders who transformed Ogbomoso into its modern form.