The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has announced a Special Intervention initiative aimed at addressing persistent power failures in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
Chairman of the TETFund Board of Trustees, Aminu Masari, revealed this on Wednesday while inaugurating the steering committee on the Alternative Energy Solution Initiative for higher institutions.
Masari, a former governor of Katsina State, stated that the initiative aligns with TETFund’s commitment to supporting the government’s efforts to ensure a stable power supply in universities, polytechnics, and colleges across the country.
He emphasized the critical role of electricity in learning and research, noting that inadequate power supply remains a major challenge in many tertiary institutions.
Masari said: “We all know the combination of many factors to include the increase in tariff which has become unbearable to these institutions coupled withe other issues.”
According to him, power demand, among other things, was critical to learning and research, preparing the way for the development of the students.
The committee, which has Sunday Adepoju, a member of TETFund BoT as chairman, was given an initial two months to summit a preliminary report.
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It will, however, be part of the implementation team.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had planned to provide power supply to tertiary institutions through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
The REA aims to provide captive solar hybrid power plants to 15 federal tertiary institutions and two teaching hospitals.
This initiative was part of the government’s efforts to increase electricity access to underserved Nigerians.
The lack of power supply has been a significant challenge for tertiary institutions in Nigeria, affecting the learning environment and academic activities.
The provision of a reliable power supply is expected to improve the quality of education and research in these institutions.