From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) said it has commenced realistic steps to improve power supply in tertiary institutions across the country.
It said the initiative was part of a commitment to support the government’s efforts to have a steady power supply to tertiary institutions across the country.
Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of TETFund, Aminu Masari, in a statement, yesterday, indicated that a steering committee on alternative energy solution initiatives to tertiary institutions had been inaugurated to undertake the task.
Masari said the committee, which has Sunday Adepoju, a member of the BoT, as chairman was given initial two months to summit the preliminary report, and will also be part of the implementation team.
He stressed the importance of power supply to learning and research in the institutions, challenging the committee members to provide realistic solutions to the challenge.
He said: “We all know the combination of many factors to include the increase in tariff, which has become unbearable to these institutions coupled with other issues.
He further noted that power demand among other things is critical to learning and research, preparing the way for the development of the students.
The Federal Government had promised to boost power supply in tertiary institutions through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) by providing solar hybrid power plants to 15 federal tertiary institutions and two teaching hospitals.
He said the initiative was part of the efforts to increase electricity access to underserved Nigerians, noting that lack of power supply had been a significant challenge for tertiary institutions in Nigeria, affecting the learning environment and academic activities.
The provision of reliable power supply is expected to improve the quality of education and research in these institutions. While the exact timeline for the completion of this project is not specified, the REA has made significant progress in increasing electricity access to underserved communities, with over 67 mini-grids and 995,396 solar home systems deployed.