Fashola tasks Rural Electrification Agency to provide electricity to rural communities

The Federal Government  has directed   the new board of  the Rural Electrification Agency (REA)  to  provide   electricity  to millions of Nigerians  yet to be connected to the national grid.
Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), the Minister of Power,Works and Housing,  gave the task while inaugurating the board  in Abuja on Tuesday.
Fashola said although the new members of the  board had the required  qualifications  for the job, what mattered most was  the delivery of the power to communities  in the  country.
“I think it is important to underline why we are here, and start with the common understanding of what our objective is;  you know what is expected of you  and you understand  the necessity  to succeed.
“Your qualifications, your experience , your achievements  mean nothing,  if these  things do  not deliver electricity to Nigerians who are in their millions and are yet to be connected to the national grid.
“When I meet legislators they tell me that their communities have never  been  connected and I think we can make that to be a matter of history,” he said.
Fashola said that over the years, government had tried to formulate policies and  implement  them, using the ministries.
He, however, said that the ministries  were  not necessarily well designed to formulate and implement  policies  at the same time.
He said many countries that had succeeded in various sectors of the economy  had created  separate  agencies to help implement the policies of government.
“This is our policy we want a set of people to go and implement so that they don’t  get distracted  with bureaucracy .
“Yes  government  has  a policy for rural electrification, access to electricity  for as many people as  is possible;  your responsibility is to go and achieve that,” the minster maintained.
He said that the Federal Government  would  continue to  make polices and  provide enabling environment for the  development of the power sector.
“We  will continue to provide guidance; we will continue to help  you  get your budget through  parliament; we will  break down barriers for you, but really and truly, it is you who will do the work,”  Fashola said.
He expressed expectation that the new board would build on the legacy of the past management of REA, adding that the purpose of the agency was to  provide electricity to Nigerians, especially  to the rural communities.
According to him, one of the reasons responsible for the lack of electricity to many Nigerians is the high cost  of connecting people, using the high tension wires.
“There are so many urban and rural communities that have not be connected to the grid and one of the reasons  they have not been connected is that the high tension wires are often meant to cover many  hundreds of  kilometres and they are expensive to deploy to the  small communities.
He, however, said that the REA  would champion  the connection of all unconnected communities.
The minister said  that  all the unconnected communities would  look up to the REA to  connect  them, using the  off grid connection.
Fashola also told the new board to focus on the  implementation of grid extension policy in the rural electrification programme of  government.
He said that about 2,000 grid extension projects were yet to be completed in the country, hence the need to focus on their completion.
The minister also said that the new management of REA should focus on the  development of hydro dams  for the provision of electricity to the rural people
He said that  the construction of over 57 hydro dams was part of the anchor plan in the rural electrification programme of government.
Other areas of focus, according to him, is the development of Independent Power Plants (IPP) for the universities in the country.
He said that the envisaged development of the plants in 44 universities in the country was designed to provide electricity for the rural communities within the institutions.
He said that most of the plants due to be developed in the universities were solar-based, adding that 27 of the them had been initiated.
The minister thanked the Federal Government for appointing young people in the board  of the REA.
President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the appointment of a new Board and Executive Management for the agency.
The new Chairman of the board is Mr  Umaru Maza Maza, while the Managing Director is Mrs. Damilola Ogunbiyi.