By Akanimo Sampson
The Buhari administration on Friday, unveiled its new Solar Power for five million households in off-grid rural communities in Jigawa State. It is also to start four rail line projects in various parts of the country.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while unveiling the Solar Power Naija Programme, at Jangefe community in Roni Local Government Area of Jigawa, said the project was expected to create 250,000 jobs, through its value chain.
“The project launch is the first phase of the deployment of one 100,000 Solar Home System (SHS), under the Solar Power Naija Programme of the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), by the Federal Government”, Osinbajo said, pointing out that the programme has the objective to expand energy access to 25 million individuals, representing five million new connections, through the provision of solar home systems or connection to a mini grid.
The vice president also announced that the federal government was working to ensure universal access to electricity in Nigeria, through the decentralisation of grid power solutions, and disclosed that the federal government had committed more than N140 billion to the project, with the Central Bank of Nigeria providing soft loan worth about 200 million dollars.
Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, said that when the project was fully implemented, it could generate over N7 billion in annual revenues for the federal government.
Similarly, Abubakar Twumasi, the Managing Director, ASOLAR, the project handlers, thanked the federal government for giving them the opportunity to actualise the innovative vision.
Governor Muhammad Badaru of Jigawa earlier thanked the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for supporting the state through its various interventions.
Badaru, however, expressed the hope that Jigawa will get the minimum of 150,000 units of the new five million homes expected to be powered, noting that each state was expected to get about 150,000 units, if the five million units were shared.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that Osinbajo had earlier witnessed the installation ceremony of the Minister of Water Resources, Hussaini Adamu, by the Emir of Kazaure, Dr Najib Hussaini Adamu, as the new District Head of Roni and the Galadiman Kazaure.
Transportation Minister, Chibuike Amaechi, however announced the four rail lines project on Friday while speaking in Abuja at the annual ministerial press briefing on programmes, projects and activities of the Federal Ministry of Transportation and its agencies.
While outlining the four rail projects which the government was about to start to include the Ibadan-Kano, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Kano-Maradi and Lagos-Calabar rail lines, the minister made no mention of the exact dates when the projects would start, but said the Federal Government was about to start the rail lines.
“We have awarded the following contracts and we are about to start and we have even tried to solve the financial problems. This is because we have the problem of having to hire consulting engineers.
“The ones we are about to start include Ibadan to Kano, that we are waiting for funds from China. We are about to start Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, we are waiting for the cabinet to approve consulting shares. We are also to start the Kano-Maradi and Lagos to Calabar”, Amaechi said.
Continuing, he said, “but one thing that is unique about these contracts is that the president early enough directed that all rail lines must stagnate at the sea ports.
“That is why there may be a bit of adjustment in the pricing of Kano-Maradi, because we have to adjust it to link up to Kano-Lagos so that it can terminate at Lagos seaport.”
Amaechi said the 185.5km Lagos-Ibadan double standard guage line with extension to Apapa seaport was nearing completion, while the 186km Abuja-Kaduna and 302km Warri-Itakpe standard guage lines had been completed and were functional.
Also speaking at the event, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the current government would leave a lasting legacy through the rail projects being constructed by the FMOT.
He said the official inauguration of some of the already completed rail projects would be done soon, as plans were on to get this settled in due course.
