Availability of electricity in rural areas will enhance agric sector growth, says NERC chair

The Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr Sam Amadi said on Thursday that availability electricity in the rural areas would enhance the growth of the agriculture sector.

Amadi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that with rural electrification, modular powers could be created in the rural areas to enable farmers to preserve their surplus farm produce.

He said crops such as maize could be stored in local silos powered by light for longer periods.

He said, “With rural electrification, you can create modular powers, small powers not to the grid, whether using sunlight, or other renewables to create small light that can power those communities before the national grid comes to them,“ he said.

According to him, it will not be realistic for people in the rural areas to wait for the national grid to get to all parts of the country before they can engage in agric business.

The NERC chairman said that the provision of electricity was on the priority list of the commission.

He said that the commission was working hard to ensure that consumers got value for their money.

The chairman had at an earlier forum said that the commission had mandated electricity distribution companies to begin the scheduling of power outage.

This, he said, would enable consumers to know at what times they would not have light and at what time the light would be restored to enable them plan better.