Why outage lingers nationwide, by Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has blamed the lingering epileptic power supply across the federation on distribution challenges.

Although generation had improved reportedly from 4,000 to 8100 megawatts, he, however, lamented that over 2000 megawatts were still not being distributed.

Addressing the 50th convocation lecture of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in his presentation titled, ‘Nigeria rising: The path to prosperity’, yesterday at Akoka, Yaba, he blamed the distribution companies (Discos) for the development.

To address the problem, the vice president said government had embarked on a major metering initiative.

Besides, he disclosed that the Federal Government in the last 18 months had been up and doing through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) by completing transmission projects nationwide.

“But the more important strategy is to decentralise power production. So we have adopted an off grid programme which means that we are encouraging private investors to collaborate with government to build independent power projects (IPPs) and supply power to willing buyers. This was made possible by what is called an eligible customer declaration by the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. By this collaboration, we have been providing power, especially solar power, to economic clusters such as markets across the country,” Osinbajo stated.

On unemployment, the nation’s number two citizen noted that job creation and profitable businesses lie in innovation and technology, adding that government was partnering with local and international technology companies and innovators to build hubs and promote innovation.

Consequently, he said the nation, in collaboration with Civic Hub, was promoting technology and innovation in universities across the six geopolitical zones.

“Our technology agenda is premised on our new educational curriculum, which emphasises Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). We are currently developing that curriculum with the support of global players like MIT, Cisco, IBM and Oracle. A nationwide curriculum that incorporates 21st century STEAM thinking: coding, design skills, digital arts, robotics and machine learning,” the vice president added.