VON DG Visits REA, Commends Agency on Rural Electrification and Commits to Improved Visibility of REA's Impact Footprint
The Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Abba Abubakar Aliyu, received the Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Jibrin Baba Ndace and his management team in his office on a courtesy visit on Monday 25 th March, 2024.
The VON DG congratulated the MD/CE of REA on his recent appointment and
commended the REA team on the Agency's continuous role in driving the nation's
strategic efforts on electrification of unserved and underserved communities. Mr Ndace
assured the MD/CEO of VON’s total support in amplifying its activities and impact on
communities.
He added that public institutions such as the REA needs to be supported to amplify its
impact in the media in order to create positive narratives in the public. The DG added
that, "the world needs to know more about the REA's impact across the nation and
Voice of Nigeria is extending its open door policy to the REA and is committed to
working with the agency while committing to collaborate to tell positive stories on rural
electrification”.
While appreciating the VON DG's visit and his kind commitment in assisting REA on
nationwide multilingual publicity, the REA MD commended the passion of the VON
leadership for taking charge in its efforts to sanitize the media space. Speaking to his
new role as MD/CEO, Mr Abba assured the public of his readiness to "uphold the
confidence the President has in him and will not rest until he fulfills the mandate of the
Agency and accelerate electricity interventions to rural Nigerians"
The MD further reemphasized the REA's broad based role in the implementation of the
Federal Government's energy access efforts through the guidance of the Federal
Ministry of Power, noting the Agency’s contribution to the nation's economy.
Abba harped on ongoing efforts to finalize a National Electrification Plan following the
directives of the Honourable Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu. The plan, he
said, will serve as a compass in the delivery of targeted electrification interventions to
the unserved and the underserved, while ensuring accountability in resource allocation
and decision-making for maximum impact.
While speaking on the agency’s impact footprint, the REA MD intimated the VON DG on
one of the Federal Government’s special programmes, the Energizing Education
Programme (EEP) currently in its second phase, with 7 federal universities and 2
university teaching hospitals set to be powered with renewable energy through the
support of the World Bank, under the Nigeria Electrification Project. He added that the
agency is equally set to flag off ground-breaking on the phase III of the EEP, designed
to power 8 additional federal universities
He expressed his confidence in the Ministry's invaluable guidance in steering the affairs
of the sector, explaining that the vote of confidence of the World Bank in the
implementation of the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) has resulted in the Bank's
further commitments, paving the way for an additional $750 credit for the Distributed
Access through Renewable Energy Scale-up (DARES) programme, the largest public
sector supported project globally, to be implemented by the REA.
The DARES is targeted at closing the energy access gap in last-mile communities
nationwide, providing sustainable energy access to millions of unserved and
underserved Nigerians.
The REA has, in the last 7 years, set the off-grid sector on a path with the best
possibility for success, driving a range of private-sector driven programmes, including
the World Bank and African Development Bank Funded Nigeria Electrification Project
(NEP); the biggest off-grid electrification project on the continent. Within this time, the
agency has effectively deployed over 500 mini-grids nationwide, situated in strategic
locations to power last-mile residents, healthcare institutions, markets, tertiary
institutions and agricultural clusters.