The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, on Thursday argued that the electricity tariff paid by Nigerians was still cheaper than what obtains in some African countries like Togo, Mali and Niger Republic.
Adelabu spoke when he received the Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF), Mr. Tosin Adeyanju, who led the management team of the agency on a visit to him at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.
The minister further assured of a reduction in the cost of electricity, with the current effort to step up generation and distribution of power in the country, according to a statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Mr Bolaji Tunji.
Adelabu said that the low level of income in Nigeria was making the cost of electricity look high to power consumers in the country.
He also said that it was still far cheaper to use electricity than to run generators, using petrol or diesel, going by the prices of those fuels today.
He expressed the readiness of the ministry and its relevant agencies to collaborate and work with the NLTF to achieve the set objective.
The minister said the renewable power project of the ministry was established to address the areas of the country that the grid does not cover.
“We will be very happy to work and partner with you on this project. We have agencies that are driving this renewable power project, using solar, wind and other alternative sources of power supply where the grid cannot reach. Such agency is our Rural Electricity Agency (REA) and they will be of great value to you in this project.
“All over the world today, we are faced with two basic issues and these are food and energy security. We can see that the cost of gas is going up globally due partly to the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“However, we must be committed to providing electricity to our rural people, particularly the youths. We can see that even those of them who have learnt skills have abandoned those skills and are now riding Okada for quick money.
“President Tinubu is committed to the transformation of Nigeria and youths and rural development are of his great concern. If Nigerians are patient, they will realise that the government means well for them. We are happy with this effort and will be very willing to work and collaborate with you to achieve it”, the minister said.
In his remarks, the lottery boss argued that Nigerians had not witnessed the improvement in the electricity supply in the country, as it is today.
“Before now, many were already opting for solar as supply was totally abysmal. But you have restored people’s confidence in the sector since you came on board,” Adeyanju said.
He informed the minister that the agency was working to get the youths, particularly in the rural areas, to be productive by training them on how to assemble one kilowatt of solar energy.
“We have come to you to seek partnership with you on how we can train our rural people, particularly the youths, on how they can assemble one kilowatt of solar energy.
“This will help a long way in addressing youth restiveness by creating employment for them, particularly those who have acquired skills such as hair dressing, vulcanising, welding and so on like that.
“This is part of our effort to help President Tinubu to achieve his aim of addressing the challenges of unemployment among the rural people and the youths in general.
“We want to carry this out in all the local government areas of the country and since we have seen your commitment in this area of power supply, we have decided to approach your ministry for partnership to achieve this,” Adeyanju said.
Emmanuel Addeh
Follow us on:
