Energy Crisis: Experts Call for Innovative Measures in Tertiary Institutions

Funmi Ogundare

Stakeholders in the education, energy, communication, and financial sectors, yesterday, called for the availability of affordable and stable power supply in the delivery of Impactful education to all who yern for knowledge.
They made this known at the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria ( EWAN) 2024 annual summit held at the University of Lagos ( UNILAG). It had the theme, ‘High Tariffs: Resolving Electricity Crisis in Nigeria’s Education Institutions’.
In her remarks, the Vice Chancellor University of Lagos, Prof. Folashade Ogunsola acknowledged that the theme reflects an existential threat to education describing energy crisis as a national issue which also affects other sectors.
She noted that education is fundamental and should be spared from agony of unstable and expensive power supply which impedes the delivery of evidence-based knowledge to Nigerians.
Prof. Ogunsola noted that most universities and educational institutions are in debt due to accumulating power tariffs.
The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, expressed optimism that the summit will push forward innovative measures to tackle the energy supply problems.
He hinted that as part of the government’s commitment, the federal Ministry of Education is engaging the public-private partnership model to address the issue, especially in the school systems.
Addressing the ongoing power supply challenges plaguing the nation, the Spokesperson of the Association of Nigeria Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, emphasized that while Nigerians are desperate for reliable power, their reluctance to pay current tariff is inimical to the growth of the nation’s power sector.
According to him,”while the aim is to provide a minimum of 20 hours of electricity, financial constraints have hindered progress.”
A representative of the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Aisha Bello reiterated the commission’s role in regulating and fixing tariffs while the Rector of Yaba College of Technology,Ibraheem Abdul criticised the indifference towards the ongoing power crisis, insisting that institutions should have the autonomy to choose their distribution band.
The Chairman of EWAN, Mojeed Alabi explained that the summit seeks to proffer practical solutions to energy crisis in the education sector and government must have the political will to invest in affordable power supply from the basic to the teitary level of education
He called for research based solutions to the crisis of energy bedeviling teitary institutions across the country.