The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Education on Wednesday signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) for eight additional universities to benefit 24 hour daily supply of solar powered electricity.
Before Wednesday, 24 universities under phase one to three have been enjoying 24 hours daily solar powered electricity across the country.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Honourable Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, noted that the collaboration from the MoU is not just a bureaucratic formality, but a bold strategic partnership aimed at scaling up the Energizing Education Programme (EEP) and extending decentralized solar power solutions across all Federal Educational Institutions in Nigeria
According to him, no 21st-century learning environment can thrive without reliable and sustainable power supply.
He pointed out that inadequate power supply has hampered innovation, disrupted academic calendars, and weakened the functionality of research laboratories and ICT infrastructure in Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education, and Vocational Institutions in Nigeria.
The Minister said "This partnership will change that narrative. Through this MOU, we are not only addressing energy poverty in our campuses, but also are advancing the energy transition goals of Nigeria, contributing to climate change mitigation, and improving the operational efficiency of our federal institutions.
"This is in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which prioritizes human capital development and robust infrastructure in our nation’s education system."
Commending the Rural Electrification Agency for the extraordinary success of the Energizing Education Programme Phase I, he said" The deployment of mini-grids that reached over seven million Nigerians is a testament to what can be achieved with vision and effective implementation.
"This next phase with the Ministry of Education as a full partner will institutionalise these gains and ensure that energy access becomes a permanent feature of our academic institutions.
"With the financial support from the World Bank and the African Development Bank, and the technical expertise of REA, we are confident that this initiation will provide clean, safe, and cost-effective energy solutions to our campuses.
"It will also significantly reduce the reliance of our institutions on diesel-powered generators, freeing up resources for core educational investments and services."
The Minister went on "I am particularly pleased that this agreement also covers capacity building, ensuring that our institutions develop the internal capabilities to manage and maintain these systems sustainably. By establishing implementation and monitoring units within the institutions, we are empowering them to take full ownership of their energy future." he stated
The Minister assured all stakeholders, including institutional heads, development partners, and the communities that host the schools, that the Ministry is fully committed to the success of the collaboration.
He said the Ministry will play its part diligently, and ensure that approvals, land support, and administrative coordination are provided swiftly and transparently.
"To our partners at the REA, thank you for your steadfast commitment to innovation and rural development. We are proud to walk this journey with you. Together, we will light up the future of education in Nigeria, one campus at a time.
"Let us all commit ourselves to the implementation of this MOU with the urgency and excellence it deserves. For in powering our Universities, we are quite literally powering the dreams of millions of young Nigerians." the Minister said
He was optimistic that all tertiary institutions in the country will be benefiting from the project before 2027.
The Minister also urged all the Vice Chancellors to be more innovative
"We need our VCs to be more creative. You are Professors and you know enough. You have to adapt. You cants continue to do the same thing and expect different result." he counseled.
Speaking further to journalists on the benefits of the project, the Minister said "Increased academic activities have more energy, research and laboratories are open, libraries are open.
"You create a better comfort for students to learn, better comfort for university lecturers to teach and to live. Create a different business value chain within the campus, the mini market, and even to the restaurant and everybody that works in the campus, in any campus is a community by itself.
"Now, 24 hours supply, you really unleash the capacity, the high economic activity that you see. This is a new day for Nigeria." he stated.
"This is actually the collaboration agreement that was signed between the Rural Electrification Agency and each of our universities today, that's phase four. Phase one, phase two, phase three,we have 24 universities already benefited. They're doing amazing job.
"So you've had another eight universities signed a collaborating agreement today. Those projects will start soon, based on what the managing director told me they have the funding from the renewable infrastructure fund that was set up to enable this government to build a lot of infrastructures.
"We're building a lot of roads. We're building new dams across the country. This is just Nigeria. We are seeing all the benefits now." the Minister said
The Managing Director / CEO of REA, Abba Aliyu, giving highlight of the project, said "So what you are seeing here is one of our intervention in the educational sector. We design a program called energy education where we provide this kind of delivery to different federal universities. Essence of that, as the Minister of Education said, is to just make sure that this University have reliable, sustainable and cost efficient electricity.
"Project phase one, two and three, we have deployed this infrastructure across 24 universities. The Universal project that you have seen is under phase two that we completed two universities and two teaching hospitals, adding about 60 megawatt of clean, reliable electricity.
"And as we have completed this, we started the phase three, which we are about to complete. We'll start commissioning in the next two months, and this covers eight universities and one teaching hospital, and as we are still completing the first three through infrastructure fund, we got some additional funding, and we've now signed a collaborative agreement to deploy this infrastructure in another eight universities.
"In total, so far, we have impacted over 600,000 students, over 50,000 academic staff, and also generating over 100 megawatt of electricity in our tertiary institutions."
Noting that the project was started under the previous government, he said that phase two, phase three have all been completed, as phase three started under the government of President Bola Tinubu.
He also explained that the cost of the project vary from University to University, depending on the power plant, the infrastructure needed to enhance their distribution networks, and building world class training centres.
The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Yusufu Ribadu, noted that the researches in the institutions will greatly benefit if there is stable electricity in the tertiary institutions.
The Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Prof Ahmad, expressed deep appreciation of the management and staff of the institution for the intervention.
"This is a big opening for us to explore further." he stated.
Giving a closing remark, the Acting Vice Chancellor of Yakubu Gowon University, Abuja, Prof Patricia Manko Lar, said that the University has been benefiting greatly from the project.
According to her, the University in the past three months has only bought one tanker of diesel, which is a far savings from what used to happen before the project was introduced to the system.
The eight additional universities that signed the MoU under Phase IV of the EEP included the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Federal University Wukari, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal University Dutse, University of Benin, and University of Ibadan. All Vice Chancellors were in attendance, except that of the University of Benin, who was ably represented.