Abuja villagers stop US team from visiting solar project

Some youths in Dakwa Village in the Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday stopped a United States delegation  from visiting the solar electrification project built for the community.
Drama started when the US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Anthony Blinken, who was expected to inspect the solar electrification project, initiated by a Mandela Washington Fellow, Olusegun Odunaiya, was not allowed to access the site.
The youths blocked officials of the US Embassy Information Unit, including the embassy’s security officials, members of the diplomatic correspondents and the US ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, and others from accessing the project.
Following the disruption of the visit, the delegation was advised to turn back by the embassy’s security officials.
The Village Head of Dakwa, Shuaibu Daudu, in an interview with newsmen, expressed disappointment with the action of the youths.
He explained that the AMAC authority drilled a borehole for the village sometimes ago, but due to the money involved in fuelling the generator, the borehole was abandoned.
Daudu said, “The AMAC built the borehole for us but we fuelled the generator with N2,000 on a daily basis. But we cannot cope with the financial obligation so we stopped using the borehole and continue with our stream water.
“So when these people (the US officials) came, I told them our problem and they promised to provide us with solar power. And since they brought the solar panel almost four months now, we have been using the borehole water everywhere.”
On why the youths were not happy with the visit, the village head said the youths complained that the inscription on the project signboard should not have included the word, “borehole,” since the borehole was not drilled or funded by the US mission.

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