Fuel Subsidy: FG Provides Solar To Communities In Lagos

By: News Peddlers 

Map of Lagos State 

To lessen the impact of the removal of subsidies on rural residents, the Federal Government has started installing solar systems in rural communities in Lagos.

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) specifically installed solar systems in schools and public health facilities at Makoko, in the city's Yaba district.

This disclosure was made yesterday by Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad, the managing director of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), while he was on an inspection tour of some of the Makoko schools and hospitals where some Solar Home Systems (SHS) had already been installed.

The deployment, according to Engr Ahmad, was a project covered by the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy of the Federal government.

Although the agency was supposed to help underserved and unserved areas get access to electricity, according to him, the role that is being played now is more of a social service to help the community deal with its economic and environmental problems.

He claims that the trip included visits to Osogbo, Osun, and Ijebu-Ode, in Ogun state, as well as other locations in the South West.

“What is clear even in the immediate aftermath is that using a de-centralized approach towards electrification of communities such as Makoko is the right approach given the difficulty of operating a traditional grid system.

“We are offering rural dwellers free solar power as part of the ongoing efforts to alleviate the impact of fuel subsidy removal on the less privileged Nigerians,” he said.

(Daily Trust)