TheCable

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) says it is partnering with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) on alternative power solutions for public tertiary institutions in the country.

Abdulmumin Oniyangi, the fund’s public affairs director, confirmed this to TheCable on Thursday.

REA is a government agency tasked with electrifying rural and underserved communities in Nigeria.

Sonny Echono, executive secretary of TETFund, met with Salihijo Ahmad, the MD of REA, in Abuja to discuss the challenge of power supply in tertiary institutions.

He urged REA to replicate its Energizing Education Programme (EEP) — which is being implemented in select universities and teaching hospitals across the country — in other public tertiary institutions.

Oniyangi, while confirming the imminent partnership, said the move is in line with TETFund’s mandate of providing functional facilities like research centres and laboratories to public tertiary institutions.

“You’ll agree that a guaranteed power source will become inevitable as some research samples and indeed reagents and chemicals need to be maintained in certain constant conditions,” he said.

“It might also interest you to know that some agricultural practice also entails conditioning temperatures for some crops in order to achieve an all-year-round production and maximum yields.

“Partnering with REA becomes necessary as an alternative power source for our beneficiaries in the light of epileptic power supply and the attendant high cost of diesel.

“This is more so when you consider that TETFund is about establishing multipurpose laboratories in some selected beneficiary institutions at the first instance.

“It is also pertinent to note that the REA has installed solar energy sources in about 24 of our beneficiary institutions out of the 37 I understand was approved by the federal government.”