The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has said it is introducing a special intervention to address the energy crisis in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
Chairman, Board of Trustees of TETFund, Hon. Aminu Masari, disclosed this on Wednesday while inaugurating the steering committee on alternative energy solution initiative to tertiary institutions
Masari, a former Katsina state Governor, said the initiative was part of the fund’s commitment to support the government’s efforts to have a steady power supply to tertiary institutions across the country.
He stressed the importance of power supply, stressing that it is critical to learning and research, which was lacking in most of tertiary institutions.
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According to him, “We all know the combination of many factors to include the increase in tarrif which has become unbearable to these institutions coupled withe other issues.”
He noted further that power demand among other thing is critical to learning and research preparing the way for the development of the students.
The committee, which has Sunday Adepoju, a member of BOT as Chairman was given and initial two months to summit the preliminary report, will however be part of the implementation team.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government has plans to provide power supply to tertiary institutions through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
The REA aims to provide captive solar hybrid power plants to 15 federal tertiary institutions and two teaching hospitals . This initiative is part of the government’s efforts to increase electricity access to underserved Nigerians.
The lack of power supply has 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 .
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