Vice President Kashim Shettima has implored the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to double efforts in the bid to accelerate Nigeria’s journey towards universal electricity access and ensure that more Nigerians benefit from increased power supply.
Accordingly, the VP granted REA’s request to enter into a partnership with the National Economic Council (NEC) to have access to state governors and engage them in the drive towards the electrification of communities across the countries.
This is just as the agency said it has secured a grant of $750 million from the World Bank and African Development Bank (AfDB) for rural electrification projects across Nigeria.
Shettima, according to a statement by his spokesman, Stanley Nkwocha, gave the charge on Friday when a delegation from REA, led by its Managing Director/CEO, Abba Abubakar Aliyu, made a presentation on the National Electrification and Implementation Plan (NESIP) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“To me, I appreciate you, I adore you, I respect you, but we need to think outside the box and we need to think big,” VP Shettima who is Chairman of NEC told the REA delegation, assuring them of maximum support from the Council and the state governors.
“The most startling revelation of this presentation has to do with the correlation between access to electricity and financial inclusion. Hence, I believe our job is cut out for us, and I want to assure you that we are going to partner with your agency so that we can meet the aspiration of the Nigerian people for access to electricity,” he added.
Urging REA to double efforts in giving more Nigerians access to electricity, the Vice President commended the agency for doing an outstanding job, taking into cognizance its efforts in several other sectors.
He however scored the agency low in terms of publicity, noting that it has performed poorly in creating awareness and keeping Nigerians abreast with ongoing efforts to address the electricity deficit in the country.
He said, “I am afraid you need to overhaul your PR management team. People need to know – Nigerians ought to know.
“At one point in time, we were getting 5 megawatts from the grid for Borno State. Just one plant is generating 12 megawatts for the University of Maiduguri and the Teaching Hospital. But you have not been publicising your activities. So, I will ask you to look at your media team and see to it that you get the loudest decibel in the social media space and the traditional media”.
Granting the agency’s request to collaborate with NEC and the state governors for the electrification project, VP Shettima asked the management of REA to engage the Special Adviser to the President on NEC and Climate Change, Rukaiya El-Rufai, in order to make a formal presentation in one of the NEC meetings.
This, he said, is necessary “so that the governors too, who are very essential in our drive towards electrifying our communities, can have a buy-in from your submissions.”
Earlier in his presentation, REA’s Managing Director listed three main sources of funding for the agency, including the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Electricity Market, which is the excess revenue of the liquidator and grants which comes from partnership with international development agencies where funds are normally provided to develop different models and concepts in the country.
Aliyu noted that before his appointment, he was heading the project management unit of the REA responsible for implementing a $550 million REA project funded by the World Bank and AfDB.
Aliyu said the agency succeeded in securing another approval for another grant of $750 million, explaining that the biggest public sector-funded project and implementation is about to commence.
He highlighted some of the electricity projects to include the 12 megawatts plant in Maiduguri, which he said is about to be completed and commissioned in the next two months, adding that the project is serving the University of Maiduguri and the Teaching Hospital with ongoing plans to extend it to the water treatment plant in the state.
The MD further noted that the new management of the agency is focusing on six key strategic areas among which is the National Electrification and Strategic Implementation Plan (NESIP) which outlines the framework that aligns with the federal government’s vision of a sustainable and inclusive energy.
Another is streamlining the coordination between the sub-nationals towards the implementation of electrification across the country.
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