REA Targets Tertiary Institutions for EEP Phase 11 Projects

By Enyi Ejike-Umunnabuike Jr

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has said it would focus more on tertiary institutions in Nigeria for phase II of its Energizing Education Programme (EEP) projects.

This information was revealed by the acting chief executive of the organisation, Mr Abba Abubakar Aliyu, during a visit to the University of Maiduguri and its medical college arm, the University Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State, over the weekend.

The head of the agency was in Borno State alongside some officials of the World Bank, and the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), who wanted to check the level of projects at the institutions.

The visit was specifically to inspect the project and inform the state government about this intervention and plans for commissioning the project.

“One of our interventions is to provide electricity to tertiary institutions. We have completed the first phase and are finalizing the second phase and have started the third phase,” Mr Aliyu stated.

It was gathered that the EEP phase II, funded by the World Bank, is aimed at providing 12kW of electricity to the school and will benefit no fewer than 350,000 people, including over 50,000 staff and non-academic staff, across Nigeria.

Mr Aliyu stated that the World Bank’s support in the EEP phase II project has been crucial in making it a reality, stressing that the confidence reposed on the REA’s implementation has encouraged global lender to provide an additional $750 million for the roll-out of what is called Distributed Access to Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES).

In his remarks, a major player in the renewable energy blockchain, Mr Olufemi Akinyelure, who is the Head of NEP, said, “Our mission is to create a sustainable future for Nigeria’s educational institutions.

“The EEP Phase II underscores our dedication to leveraging renewable energy solutions to drive academic excellence and gender inclusion in the STEM fields,” he stated.

On his part, the Executive Director for Technical Services at REA, Mr Umar Abdullahi Umar, said, “This event could not have come at a better time than now, given the myriad of energy challenges, which Federal Government owned educational institutions, in Nigeria, are confronted with.”

He advised that beneficiary institutions of the EEP phase 11 projects, like similar ones, must protect such critical national assets, to ensure their hardware and software longevity and usage.