People of Ajao Estate on Sunday 18 June, 2017 held a Town Hall meeting to deliberate the crazy billing issued to them by Eko Distribution Company, Ikeja; and for them to agitate no disconnection in the Estate.
The group that called for the meeting who has being leading the resistance is Forum for Evolution and Progressive Development (FEPD) the leading organ in the struggle against overestimated billing in Ajao Estate/community for some time now.
There are other groups and organizations who were invited outside the Estate/community after hearing the heated struggles and campaign going on in other part of Lagos; where people have been organizing to peacefully resist disconnection and demand for prepaid meter. They were being invited to thumb their solidarity support both organizationally and in perspective for the fight against crazy bill and the call for government to take back the power industry by nationalizing it because of the monthly billions these private companies rip out from people; supplying darkness.
Organizations like Mafoluku Community Association, Okota Community Association, Ago United-Okota Community Development, Ajegunle Peoples’ Movement, Joint Action Front and Democratic Socialist Movement were all in attendance. More than 59 persons were present in the meeting. Pensioners, fathers and mothers, women and ladies, old and the youths, workers, community leaders, students; all assemble to concretely advance the struggle and agitation through tactical discussions and possible way forward.
Posters stating that the electricity company mustn’t disconnect but provide prepaid metre were already pasted in each residential building to embolden the residents so to further strengthen the movement as united force. And alert people about their electricity rights to peacefully resist disconnection and reject crazy bills. At the Town Hall Meeting, banners of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) of AJEGUNLE STAND UP AGAINST DARKNESS and Ago United-Okota Community Development (AUCD) were flying respectively at the venue ground. Passerby in the Estate was gravitated towards the demands in each banner displayed, which equally raises the demands of the ongoing struggle of people in Ajao Estate/community.
Activists, community leaders, radicals and socialists who spoke, applaud the people of Ajao Estate for organizing such a meeting. And also, organizing a protest weeks ago to register their grievances over the crazy billing issued to them. Again, how they have been able to collectively resist the electricity companies peacefully from disconnecting them. Experiences were shared by those who spoke like Mr. Lawal Okudayo (Chairman Mafoluku Community), Dagga Tolar (Acting General Secretary of Democratic Socialist Movement, DSM), leaders of Forum for Evolution and Progressive Development (FEPD), Mr. kazeem Iyadoye (Okota Community leader and LASU Student Unionist), Achike Chidi (Joint Action Front, JAF) and others.
Intelligent perspective, comments and contributions were all offered to further organize the struggle. From the quality solidarity perspective given, the issue of intensify campaign, production of leaflets and flex banners, proper education of people in the estate to know their electricity consumer rights, working elected committee to monitor the Eko Ikeja operations etc were all thoroughly discussed as proposals and adopted for way forward. Copies of the leaflets on the electricity crisis in Nigeria and the failure of the Buhari capitalist oriented government to resolve the power sector through privatization, were all circulated to further educate the rank and file residents and including the ‘’middle class’’ withering away.
That privatization isn’t working and for prepaid metre and regular power supply to be guarantee to boost industrialization; and trim down drastically the terrifying unemployment. The question of nationalization of the power sector under democratic control and management of workers and poor is inevitable becomes the only way forward in this frustrating. This point, however, was clearly made by one of the speaker (Dagga Tolar, DSM) in his solidarity perspective in the meeting. Members of Democratic Socialist Movement from Ajegunle, who were also in the meeting, engage some of the attendees’ to buy the Social Democracy bulletin. Sixteen copies of the publication were sold and socialists made to those in the meeting to read more of us in http://www.socialistnigeria.org.
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LIFEINSLUM PHOTOS
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