The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has assured Nigerians of a reduction in the cost of electricity, with the current effort to step up generation and distribution of power in the country.
He gave the assurance on Thursday during a meeting with the Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund, Tosin Adeyanju, who led the management team of the agency to pay a courtesy call on the minister at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.
Adelabu who noted that the price of electricity is still the cheapest in Nigeria, compared to other African countries such as Togo, Mali, and Niger Republic, however said the low level of income in Nigeria makes the cost look high to consumers.
The minister stated that it is cheaper to use electricity than to run generators, using petrol or diesel, going by the current prices of the commodities.
Adelabu further expressed the readiness of the ministry and its relevant agencies to collaborate and work with the Trust Fund to achieve the objective, adding that the renewable power project of the ministry was established to address the areas of the country that the grid does not cover.
He said, “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 securities. 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 patience, 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.”
On his part, Adeyanju lauded Adelabu for his performance, competence, and capacity since his assumption of office about a year ago, and for restoring the confidence of Nigerians in the power sector.
“We have come to you to seek a 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 hairdressing, vulcanizing, and welding, among others.
“This is part of our effort to help President Tinubu 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”, he said.