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By Maduka Nweke
In its commitment to make electricity readily to Nigerians, the Federal Government is seeking the support of African countries where the solution has already developed.
The government of Morocco has been contacted to boost Federal Government’s and Jigawa State in the direction solar energy initiatives implementation as a way of increasing energy availability in the northwest zone and other parts of the country.
Jigawa State’s Commissioner for Land, Housing, and Urban and Regional Planning, Sagir Musa Ahmed, unveiled the plan concerning this collaboration recently in the state during a media engagement forum at the Manpower Development Institute in Dutse by the Jigawa State Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Ahmed declared that a portion of land of about 200,000 hectares in the state’s Gwiwa Local Council have been carved out to host the planned project noting that the solar power project is a Moroccan government initiative to improve electricity supplies in Nigeria.
He noted that the project is conducted in collaboration with Nigeria’s Federal Government and Jigawa’s state governments. “The project is ambitious, seeking to supply and improve electricity generation in the country, particularly in Zamfara, Jigawa, Katsina, and Yobe states,” he said.
Ahmed recognised the significance of the solar project and reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to participate in such cooperations. “Morocco’s cooperation with Nigeria illustrates the kind of mutual benefits Nigeria’s Minister of Science, Ogbonnaya Onu, named “intra-Africa cooperation.
“On October 25, Morocco and Nigeria signed a memorandum of understanding for the research and development of biotechnological products and processes, including the manufacturing of bio-fertiliser and bio-fungicide.
“Both nations are working to boost cooperation in the field of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI). Nigeria is willing to utilise STI to take full advantage of its abundant natural resources to increase employment and GDP,” he concluded.
