By Engr. Daudu Abdul-Aziz
The circulation of two photographs in the social media showing the 15th Emir of Hadejia, Alhaji Haruna Abdulkadir leading dignitaries out of his palace to the pavilion in front of the palace, arranged for the distinguished guests to watch a durbar in their honour, brought back happy memories of the commissioning of the Hadejia Electrification Project. The guest of honour on that day, as shown in the photographs, was Mrs Victoria Gowon, wife of the former Nigerian head of state General Yakubu Gowon, who performed the official commissioning on 1st August 1973. She was accompanied by the former military governor of Kano State, Police Commissioner Audu Bako and his wife, Hajiya Ladi Bako. Regrettably, both Emir Haruna Abdulkadir and Governor Audu Bako are no longer with us. May Allah (SWT) have mercy on them and grant their souls peaceful repose in Aljannah Firdaus.
The historical background to the project can be traced to the establishment of Kano State Rural Electricity Board by the military government (of Alhaji Audu Bako), by an act of Edict (No. 1 of 1973) published in the Kano State of Nigeria Gazette No. 6, Vol. 7 of 22nd March 1973. The intention, of course, was to make power supply available to the greatest number of the people and boost the economic and industrial development of many towns and villages, as well as improve their social wellbeing as NEPA was not coping with the demands for electricity nationwide, and some stop-gap measure was needed. The prevailing situation in 1973 was, save for metropolitan Kano, only Dawakin Tofa, Tofa and Bichi enjoyed electricity from the national grid. What is more, not a single town in Kano State benefitted from the N46 million electrification programme for population centres nationwide approved for NEPA by the Federal Government in 1972, which showed how poorly Kano State had been covered by the national electricity supply authority.
By 1973, most State Governments had established Rural Electrification Boards, and interestingly, the Midwestern State was the first to do so, followed by Kano State. Talk about healthy competition between two progressive States! A competition which later transcended the realms of rivalry to that of close friendship, such that the former could assist the latter with educational manpower to help raise standard of education, particularly at the primary level.
The plan by Governor Audu Bako was to electrify all the major rural areas in Kano State within the Second and Third (National) Development Plan periods. The project started with Hadejia, while Gumel and Kazaure followed in quick succession.
How did the project begin, as witnessed by youngsters like us, then students in secondary school?
We came home for the holidays at the end of the first term in 1973 to find the town littered with wooden electric poles piled in several of the town’s open spaces. The talk everywhere in town was that Hadejia was going to be electrified at last. This was cheering news because apart from Kano, people in Hadejia could only hear stories about neighbouring towns of Azare in present Bauchi State and Nguru, the railway terminus in present Yobe State, enjoying mains electricity since the time of ECN (later NEPA).
However, locally, the newly constructed General Hospital which was commissioned in 1962 had electricity supply powered by a diesel genset. People will remember the rhythmic sound of its engine being similar to that of a pulsating heart, which could be heard a fair distance away across town at the other end. As a matter of fact, that hospital plant was extraordinary because going by today’s classification, it can qualify as a cogeneration plant—complete with a boiler to supply hot water (and steam?) for the hospital’s daily needs. The huge cylindrical boiler drums could be seen under a special canopy beside the powerhouse. It is so elaborately arranged, and something to marvel at, which is a reflection of the quality of work done by Messrs Cappa and D’Alberto, the contractor that built the hospital. Such a pity, though, that the residence of the medical officer, built by the same contractor at the Bariki, didn’t enjoy the electricity or hot water produced by this plant because the house was considered remote from the hospital to have these services extended to it!
A small generating set was later installed at the emir’s palace which also supplied the central mosque and a few of the emirate councillors’ houses. Some wealthy individuals in the town also owned private generators for their houses.
Back to the electrification project story—it was now time for work to start in earnest.
But, first, some juicy eggs had to be broken before this omelette could be made—trees had to be felled to put up the distribution network infrastructure and install power supply equipment. Hadejia was known for its beautifully laid-out, tree-lined streets and roads. The dense green foliage sheltered the town fully from the hot, sub-Saharan tropical weather, especially in the months of March to June when the scorching heat of the sun is at its highest intensity, beside serving as open sheds for petty traders of all kind to display their wares, and as a resting place for the numerous Majlis spread around the different wards in the town.
Obviously, this request to cut down trees must have presented the forestry department with a difficult decision to make. The decision must have been even more difficult because people, generally, expressed disgust at losing trees planted and painstakingly tended to maturity decades ago.
But that anger soon dissipated, and the mood quickly changed to delight when streetlights took the place where the trees once stood. The nights became lively and people could move about freely and do their business with ease, into the small hours of the night. That is the irony of modern development!
It is a pity that since the electrification project, the natural environment has continued to suffer from devastation caused by city redevelopment, the latest of which is the reconstruction of Hadejia township roads by the Jigawa State Government. The tree-population has now been reduced to a fraction of the situation in the early 1970s. Happily, though, a private initiative supported by the Hadejia Emirate Council, has carried out the planting of trees inside the town. This is commendable, but the government needs to take this issue more seriously. The annual tree planting campaigns of yesteryear should be reintroduced.
Of course, the environmental issue is a global phenomenon. While the Almighty Allah has designed a perfect ecological balance between fauna and flora, in the production and consumption of oxygen and cardon dioxide, mankind in its activity and greed to not only satisfy its essential needs but also its conspicuous consumption, is destroying that balance. The result is global warming with its dire consequences.
So much for the environment!
It didn’t take time before the project was completed, its pace no doubt, accelerated by the cooperation received from the community in the execution of the task. The whole town was flushed with excitement at the thought of having electricity in a matter of months, even weeks, which made everybody to come forward to play a part in actualising it. For once, farmers and traders abandoned going to the farms and markets and volunteered to offer their services free in any way, shape, or form desired. Able-bodied men became mobile cranes and carried electric poles on their shoulders to erection locations. The entire town turned into a project site overnight.
Although there is nothing to suggest that the quality of work was compromised in the process, “safety at work” practices were not observed, and a few injuries were recorded. In one instance, a friend sustained serious injuries in his right foot when the wooden electric pole being carried shoulder-high was suddenly dropped heavily on it. He was very lucky not to have had his metatarsal broken, but he endured many sleepless nights in excruciating pain. Another elder in the community in a similar situation was not so lucky—he fractured, and virtually lost, an index-finger.
On the whole, it had to be admitted that the technical quality of the job was very good. It stood the test of time, and would several years later pass the necessary tests for connection to the national grid. The credit must go to the contractor that handled the job and technical staff of Kano State REB, but principally the project engineer, or manager, who incidentally was no other than our very own Umaru (Mohammed) Hadejia, a.k.a. Umaru Maishadai, a proud Bahadeje.
Umaru Maishadai was a young technician at the Kano State Ministry of Works & Survey when Governor Audu Bako established the REB and appointed Ja’afaru Aliyu, a NEPA staff at the power station at Challawa, as the Board’s General Manager. Ja’afaru identified Umaru, recruited him immediately and assigned him to work on the electrification programmes of the Board.
Umaru settled down to work and quickly established a reputation for hard work and thoroughness, proving that he was not the type of project engineer who would sit down behind a desk at the site office reviewing reports and holding lengthy meetings. Umaru was dynamic and visible. He was the indefatigable engineer, always going round the project “site” to inspect work and issue instructions—the trademark VW Combi Bus project vehicle became the tell-tale sign of his presence. It is a testament to his hard work that he was able to accomplish the Hadejia, Gumel and Kazaure projects in record time and without a hitch.
It is a remarkable feat that it took only four months from the date the edict establishing the Kano State REB was published in the government official gazette on 22ndMarch 1973, to the commissioning of the first REB project at Hadejia on 1stAugust 1973. And probably within budget too—the Hadejia electrification project cost N600,000 (in 1973 Naira). That is determination and commitment to a cause!
However, in spite of all the expectations, preparations and initial celebration in the afternoon of 1st August 1973 to welcome Mrs Victoria Gowon, the official commissioning programme of the Hadejia REB project ultimately ended as an anti-climax; rainfall early in the evening didn’t allow people to come out and witness the cutting of the tape and switching on of the light by Mrs Gowon, but did anyone care? Once the rain stopped, people trooped out on to the streets, and that’s when the all-night celebrations started—until the early hours in the morning!
At take-off, the powerhouse at Hadejia comprised two generating units of 236kW and 312kW rating. This was upgraded with the addition of another installation in a different section of the town, comprising three units rated at 1 x 600kW and 2 x 450kW (i.e., total capacity of 1500kW), to cater for growth in demand.
Of course, the question for standalone diesel genset power supply schemes, as that of Hadejia REB, has always been for how long can it be sustained? This question was quickly answered—not very long. Luckily, power supply from the national grid came to the aid.
Events would later prove that Kano State REB had lofty ambitions. It was not content just establishing isolated REB plants serving small towns and villages. It thought of a better (and more economical?) idea to have more central and bigger power plants that could serve many towns interconnected by small distribution networks. This is similar in concept to today’s mini-grids. Remarkably, this was foreseen 40 years ago by the civilian government of Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi. Nowadays, both Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Rural Electrification Agency are promoting this idea of a mini-grid, though not as standalone diesel installations but as hybrid installations of renewables in combination with diesel gensets or as renewable energy systems alone (solar/wind/small hydro).
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