A TOTAL of 240 electric solar-powered tricycles have been procured and deployed by the Federal Government to 12 universities nationwide, with two universities in each geopolitical zone receiving 20.

Flagging off the initiative yesterday at the University of Lagos under the Renewed Hope Transport Scheme deployment programme, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, declared that other beneficiary universities can begin to use the tricycles immediately.
The minister stressed that the tricycles are meant for students’ use, though the universities obviously have the authority of how the deployment should be done.

He encouraged the various vice-chancellors to ensure that the student unions receive a substantial number of these tricycles for their use, providing commuting assistance opportunities across all the campuses.

According to the minister, the government’s aim is for every tertiary institution to get some of these tricycles, as the government has already budgeted for more in the 2026 TetFund funding guidelines.
The beneficiary universities include Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Bayero University, Kano, in the North-West geo-political zone; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauch, and the University of Maiduguri, Borno State, in the North-East zone. These universities are among the first batch to benefit from this scheme.

Other universities includes the University of Jos, Plateau State, and the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, for the North-Central, the University of Nigeria, Nsuka, Enugu State, and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Akwa, Anambra State, from the South-East zone, University of Benin, Edo State and University of Port Harcourt in the South-South region, and the University of Lagos and the Obafemi Awolowo University in Osun State from the South-West region of the country.