Desmond Elliot Surulere electricity claim is generating serious reactions online — the lawmaker says improved power supply is his greatest achievement after years in office. Nigerians are not keeping quiet.
Surulere people. Come and gather here.
Your representative — Desmond Elliot — has said something and I need you to sit down before you read it because your BP might not handle it standing up.
Desmond Elliot
The man said his greatest achievement as a lawmaker is electricity. Not roads. Not schools. Not hospitals. Not security. Not youth development. Electricity. NEPA light. PHCN. That thing that comes and disappears like somebody’s ex who only calls when they need data.
And he didn’t stop there.
He said Surulere ten years ago was a “horrible place to live.” And that today? Today Surulere’s electricity is “one of the best you will find anywhere.”
Anywhere.
In Nigeria.
In Surulere.
The same Surulere.
I had to read it twice. Then I had to check if it was a parody account. Then I had to check again.
What Desmond Elliot Actually Said
I’m not paraphrasing. I’m not twisting his words. The man literally said his greatest achievement in office is power. That was his own mouth. His own words. On camera.
Let that sink in for a second.
A man who has been representing Surulere in the Lagos State House of Assembly — a man who was sent there by the people to make laws and fight for their interests — came out and said the best thing he’s done for them is electricity.
Not a single road he facilitated. Not a youth programme. Not job creation. Not a single thing that directly improved the lives of the young people in his constituency who are jobless and frustrated. Power. That’s it. That’s the peak.
And then he called Surulere horrible. His own constituency. The people who voted for him. He called where they live “horrible” ten years ago. Now I don’t know about you but if someone I voted for calls my neighbourhood horrible on camera I would have questions. Lots of them.
The Internet Did What the Internet Does
You already know how this ended. The moment those words hit social media, Surulere people came out swinging.
One person tweeted — “I’m literally sitting in Surulere right now as I type this. There is no light. My fan has been off since morning. Best electricity anywhere? Which Surulere is this man living in?”
Another one said — “My house in Aguda has been without power for three days straight. Three. Days. And this man is on camera saying we have the best electricity in Nigeria. Abeg who gave this man microphone?”
Someone else posted a video. Just a simple video. Recorded their street at night. Complete darkness. Except for one streetlight that was flickering like it was about to die too. Caption was just — “Desmond Elliot said this is one of the best. Best where?”
The comments were brutal. People were screenshotting their monthly PHCN bills next to their fuel receipts for generators. Showing the math. Proving that they spend more on fuel for generators than they spend on actual electricity bills. And this is what this man is calling his greatest achievement. Desmond Elliot
Twitter was on fire. Instagram was on fire. Facebook was on fire. Even TikTok people were doing reaction videos. Everybody had something to say because what Desmond Elliot said was so far removed from reality that people couldn’t even be angry properly. They were just confused. Desmond Elliot
Let’s Be Fair — Is There Any Truth to This?
I want to be fair here because that’s what we do. We don’t just run with emotions.
Is Surulere’s electricity better than some parts of Lagos? Maybe. Possibly. There might be one or two estates or streets in Surulere where supply has improved. Maybe a new transformer was installed somewhere. Maybe some community effort actually made a difference on certain blocks.
But — and this is a big but — to say Surulere has “one of the best electricity you will find anywhere in Nigeria”? Anywhere? The man said anywhere.
Lekki exists. Ikoyi exists. Victoria Island exists. Parts of Ikeja do better than Surulere on most days. Even some areas in Abuja would laugh at this claim. So who exactly is Desmond Elliot comparing Surulere to? A village in Kebbi where people still use firewood to see at night? Because if that’s the comparison then congratulations I guess. But that’s not a compliment abeg. That’s an insult wearing a nice shirt.
Because let’s call it what it is — Desmond Elliot is an actor. He has money. He has fame. He probably lives in a house with a powerful generator that kicks in the moment light disappears. His fridge never goes off. His AC never stops. His phone is always charged because he has backup inverters and everything else. Desmond Elliot
When NEPA takes light from his street he doesn’t feel it. His life doesn’t change. His children don’t suffer. Nobody in his house has to fan themselves with cardboard at midnight because the heat is unbearable.
So when he says Surulere has the best electricity he’s not lying from his own perspective. From where he’s sitting — with his generator and his backup and his comfort — maybe his part of Surulere does look like it has good power supply.
But he’s not supposed to be speaking from his own perspective. He’s supposed to be speaking from the perspective of the people. The woman on Adeniran Ogunsanya who sells frozen fish and loses stock every time there’s no light. The man on Bode Thomas who runs a barber shop and can’t work without electricity. The student in Shitta who charges his phone at a viewing centre because there’s never light at home.
Those are the people he represents. And their reality is not his reality. And until he understands that gap he will keep saying things like this and wondering why people are angry. Desmond Elliot
If This Is the Best — What Else Is There?
Here’s what bothers me the most.
If electricity is his greatest achievement — then what are the other achievements?
Think about it. A lawmaker spends years in office. Years. He collects salary. He collects allowances. He attends plenary sessions. He’s supposed to be passing laws and bringing development to his people. And after all that time the best thing he can point to is power supply that people are still complaining about daily.
So where are the other achievements? Where are the roads he fixed? Where are the schools he helped build? Where are the youth programmes? Where are the jobs he created? Where is anything else?
Because if the thing you’re most proud of is something that people can disprove by simply looking out their windows and seeing darkness — then maybe there isn’t much else to be proud of. Maybe the electricity story is just a cover for the emptiness behind it.
And I think that’s what really hurts people. Not just the lie itself but what the lie represents. Years of representation with nothing tangible to show for it except a claim that insults the intelligence of the people you were sent to serve.
Surulere Deserves Better Than This
Surulere is not a small place. It’s one of the most important local government areas in Lagos State. Real working class people live there. You know who I keep thinking about? The ones waking up before 5am to go hustle. Coming back home when it’s already dark, legs tired, pockets still empty. Just trying to survive in a country that keeps making survival harder every single week.
Those people deserve better than a rep who turns their pain into a campaign speech.
So What Has Desmond Elliot Actually Done for Surulere?
Because I keep asking myself this. And I keep coming up short.
Not what he says he’s done. Not what he claims. What has he actually done that the people of Surulere can point to and say “yes this is because of our representative”?
Because from where I’m sitting all I see is a man who shows up on camera every now and then says something controversial and disappears until the next election cycle when he needs those same people he called “horrible” to come out and vote for him again.
And the scary part is they probably will. Because that’s how it always goes. We complain. We roast. We share. We move on. And nothing changes. Desmond Elliot
Until we decide that words without action are not enough — this cycle will keep repeating. And next time Desmond Elliot will come and say another outrageous thing and we’ll react again and nothing will change again.
New to our page? FOLLOW us to keep up with all the latest entertainment news.
