Firm, 9 federal varsities sign agreement on power supply

THE Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria (REA), has signed a memorandum of understanding with nine federal universities that are the beneficiaries of the first phase of Energising Education (EE) programme of the Federal Government.

The programme is an attempt by the Federal Government to ensure adequate power supply to all the 40 federal universities and University Teaching Hospitals across the country.

Managing Director, REA, Mrs Damilola Ogunbiyi, speaking at the agreement signing ceremony in Abuja, said EE programme was conceived for implementation with relevant stakeholders in addressing the challenges of power supply to federal universities and other tertiary institutions.

She urged the participating universities to ensure the success of the project, saying some of the responsibilities of the institutions include provision of a good expanse of land as contained in the memorandum of understanding and guaranteeing of security at the campus where the power generation materials and its components would be laid.

While applauding the key role that education plays in achieving common objective of economic growth and development in Nigeria, she disclosed that the parent Ministry of Power, Works and Housing initiated the programme, comprising multiple off-grid embedded power plant projects, with primary objective of providing uninterrupted and dedicated power supply to the beneficiary institutions.

She added that the project was the major programme of REA in its capital expenditure outlay for the year 2017, with the allocation of N10 billion for its execution.

Ogunbiyi, said the project when completed, was expected to boost the capacity of the beneficiary institutions to conduct and generate research with uninterrupted power.