FG Deploys Solar Power To Universities To Improve Learning Conditions – Alausa.

 

Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, has said the use of off-grid solar power in educational institutions is improving learning conditions across the country.

The solar solutions are being deployed under the Energising Education Programme, implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency.

Speaking during an interview on the Afropolitan Podcast, Alausa said frequent power outages and high electricity costs had affected teaching, research and living conditions in universities.

He said the government was working to take universities off the national grid by providing them with dedicated solar mini-grids.

According to him, reliable electricity will ensure that students can study at night, laboratories can operate without interruptions and university hospitals can provide better services without depending heavily on diesel generators.

“We are taking our campuses off the national grid with dedicated solar power. You cannot build a modern university system where students cannot read at night, laboratories lose power in the middle of experiments, and hospitals attached to our universities are forced to run on noisy, expensive diesel generators,” he said.

Alausa also said high electricity bills had placed a heavy financial burden on universities, with funds that could have been used for academic development going towards electricity costs.

He said the government was addressing the problem by providing clean and reliable energy that can operate continuously.

The minister added that providing sustainable power to tertiary institutions was part of the government’s plan to improve human capital development and make Nigerian universities more competitive globally.

He further disclosed that the government had established the Renewable Energy Asset Management Company to maintain the solar mini-grids and ensure they remain functional.

“As Minister, I don’t just want to leave projects that will deteriorate after two years; we are aiming for sustainability that will last beyond my tenure,” he said.