NANS calls for Senate’s approval of EEP project funds

NATIONAL Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has appealed to the Senate to approve funds for the proposed Energising Education Programme (EEP) project of the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing (FMWPH).

The association declared its support for the project through a statement last week by the public relations officer, Okereafor Bestman Opeyemi.

The ministry had last Monday revealed that the project, which is worth N10 billion, was meant to provide uninterrupted electricity in 37 federal universities and seven teaching hospitals across Nigeria.

“In addition to helping to extend electrification to rural and underserved areas in which the institutions are located ultimately, the programme will enable the institutions benefit from world-class training schools for the training of students in renewable energy, as well as provide optimised security for the safety and well-being of students and staff, through the installation of streetlights on campus, which is only a small component of the project,” the ministry had explained in a statement.

Mr Opeyemi said NANS saw the project as one which would not only benefit the institutions but also their host communities.

NANS said in its statement, “We consider (it) as student-oriented, as it will also help to extend electrification to rural areas in which the institutions are located.

“The programme will enable the institutions benefit from world-class training schools for the training of students in renewable energy and also help institutions’ management to save huge funds being spent on power.”

The EEP is to be implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the rural electrification agency, and the vice chancellors of the universities.

It called on the Senate to approve the project, saying “if $1 billion can be approved for (counter) insurgency, how much is N10 billion for the education sector? We will not hesitate to take to the streets if the needful is not done soonest.”