Abia lawmaker wants renewable energy for rural communities

The lawmaker representing the Aba South constituency, Obinna Ichita, has underscored the need for the installation of renewable energy in rural communities in order to meet their energy need.

Ichita said this during a recent interactive session with his constituents in Aba. He said that renewable energy had the potential to address the energy problem in rural areas.

According to him, renewable energy has the capacity to provide a constant power supply for households and businesses.

“This will in turn boost socio-economic development in rural areas.

“We cannot undermind the importance of electricity in anything that we do.

“The World Bank, in conjunction with Central Bank of Nigeria and Rural Electrification Agency as well as other stakeholders, has come up with an initiative to ensure that people in rural communities have access to constant renewable energy.

“The constant power outages and collapse of the national grid underpins the importance of this project.

“This means that our families and businesses will have the opportunity of having access to constant power supply off-national grid through solar power technology,” he said.

The lawmaker said that he had secured free installation for 2,000 households in his constituency to strengthen the implementation of the Federal Government initiative.

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He, therefore, urged the Abia government to key into the project.

Chinonso Ugwueke, an electrical engineer with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), said that Federal Government introduced the initiative to improve the well-being of Nigerians.

“The Federal Government through NDPHC, in partnership with ASolar Systems Nigeria Ltd., will be providing uninterrupted power supply to households in underserved and unreserved areas,” Ugwueke said.

Also, Ibrahim Usman, the regional manager of the organisation, said the project was expected to facilitate maximum youth empowerment.

“The target is to provide affordable and accessible electricity for off-grid communities.

“The initiative was in furtherance of the Sustainable Development Goal 7,” Usman said.