Nigeria's acting President , Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, inaugurated the commencement of distribution of 20,000 solar-powered lighting systems for rural communities.
Already billed to commence in Abuja, the project would be extended to other parts of the country. Beginning with a rural part of Gwagwalada in the nation's capital, Abuja the project is an avenue for the provision of alternative power supply since the traditional and hydropower and coal sources are no longer reliable.
Already billed to commence in Abuja, the project would be extended to other parts of the country. Beginning with a rural part of Gwagwalada in the nation's capital, Abuja the project is an avenue for the provision of alternative power supply since the traditional and hydropower and coal sources are no longer reliable.
Osinbajo stated that that about 70 million households in Nigerian are not connected to the national grid, saying the programme would be replicated across the federation.
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From left, Minister of State for Environment, Mallam Ibrahim Jubril; Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC, Mr. Chiedu Ugbo; Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; CEO, Azuri Technologies, Simon Bransfield-Garth and Chairman, Gwagwalada Area Council, Mustapher Adamu, during the official launch of NDPHC solar home systems at Muna, Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.
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He said: “In September 2015, President Buhari spoke to me about what we could do to accelerate the electrification in the rural areas. We had in mind different projects that we could do to bring electricity to many of our rural communities and villages. He was particularly concerned as we spoke about farming and also education in the rural areas."
“Renewable energy, especially solar power, seemed to be the one that will be cost effective and that we could deploy very quickly all over the country. Once we took that decision, we came across Azuri. We expect that this will be replicated all over Nigeria.”