By Kenneth Onuoha
365Daily – As part of its efforts towards enlightening the public on electrical safety and electricity distribution operations, the Enugu Electricity Distribution company(EEDC), has embarked on a massive stakeholder education/sensitisation campaign to schools within its franchise area.
The campaign is aimed at orientating school children who are seen as the “leaders of tomorrow” at the early stage of their lives.
The Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, made this known after the team from EEDC visited Lady Ibiam Girls Secondary School, Enugu, to engage the students on Thursday, July 15, 2021.
According to him, the children witness illegal activities going on within their environment, and are already growing up to see those illegalities as normal.
“As a result of this, our organization decided to adopt the approach of “training up a child in the way he/she should go, so that when he/she grows, he/she will never depart from it.
“We need to train and educate our children in the right direction on the use of electricity, especially for their safety anywhere they are.”
Ezeh said that the campaign is also an avenue for the children to understand how the electricity they make use of works, how it is generated and transmitted, the dos and don’ts, and some of the reasons why there are power outages.
He added that EEDC embarks on this campaign annually, though the activity was greatly affected last year due to the outbreak of Covid 19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown measures.
Ezeh further stated that so far, the campaign train has visited Trans-Ekulu Girls Secondary School, National Grammar School Nike, Government Secondary School, Government Technical School, Uwani Secondary School, New Haven Secondary School and Citadel Schools, Maryland, Enugu, with many other schools yet to be visited.
It was gathered that the students were enthusiastic and exhibited much interest in the programme, expressing happiness over what they were taught. The teachers were also not left out as learning is a continuum.
Some of the school children shared their experiences where they had severe electric shocks while carrying out chores or playing at home, or while trying to change-over supply, thus underscoring the need to provide them with the appropriate orientation and save them from these hazardous conditions which they are exposed to daily.
“We are happy we are positively impacting on the lives of our children and we are optimistic that with this, electrical accidents amongst children in homes and outside the homes will be drastically reduced if not extinguished,” Ezeh said.