Regina Otokpa 
Disturbed by the incessant power failure in the country, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has announced the introduction of a Special Intervention to stabilise electricity in tertiary institutions.
Chairman, Board of Trustees of TETFund, Aminu Masari, who made this disclosure on Wednesday while inaugurating the steering committee Alternative Energy Solution Initiative to tertiary Institutions, stressed that stable power supply was critical to learning and research, which was lacking in most of tertiary institutions.
Masari, a former Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and former Governor of Katsina State, said the initiative was part of the fund’s commitment to support the government’s efforts to have a steady power supply in tertiary institutions across the country.
He said: “We all know the combination of many factors to include the increase in tariff which has become unbearable to these institutions coupled with other issues. Power demand, among another thing, is critical to learning and research, preparing the way for the development of the students.”
The committee, which has Sunday Adepoju, a member of BoT, as Chairman, was given an initial two months to submit the preliminary report.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government has plans 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 is part of the government’s efforts to increase electricity access to underserved Nigerians.
While the exact timeline for the completion of this project is not specified, the REA has made significant progress in increasing electricity access to underserved communities, with over 67 mini-grids and 995,396 solar home systems deployed.
