Electricity: Nigerian university campuses will be taken off national grid — Education Minister Alausa

Nigeria’s Education Minister, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has announced that university campuses throughout the nation will be disconnected from the national grid using solar-powered mini-grids. In a recent interview, Alausa emphasized that off-grid power solutions are elevating the quality of education in Nigerian institutions. He pointed out that chronic failures of the national grid have in the past disrupted academic stability, hampered scientific research, and diminished the general standard of university life in Nigerian colleges.

The minister explained that establishing a reliable learning environment necessitates completely removing universities from the conventional power lines. He added that shifting tertiary institutions to autonomous solar mini-grids would safeguard lecture rooms and student housing from frequent power outages. "We are disconnecting our campuses from the national grid with dedicated solar power," he stated.

"You cannot construct a modern university system where students cannot read at night, laboratories lose power during experiments, and hospitals connected to our universities are forced to operate on noisy, expensive diesel generators." "The burden of electricity tariffs has been one of the heaviest strains on university finances," Alausa continued.

"Rather than universities spending hundreds of millions on electricity bills every month, we are resolving this issue structurally with clean, captive energy that operates continuously." The Daily Post reports that the Federal Government’s Energizing Education Programme is deploying solar energy solutions to at least 25 universities and teaching hospitals across Nigeria.