By FUNMILAYO ADEYEMI

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) says it is introducing a special intervention to address incessant power failure in tertiary institutions across the country.

Chairman, Board of Trustees of TETFund, Aminu Masari, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, while inaugurating the steering committee for Alternative Energy Solution Initiative in tertiary Institutions

Masari said the initiative was part of the fund’s commitment to support government’s efforts at ensuring steady power supply in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

The board chairman, a former governor of Katsina State, stressed the importance of power supply as critical to learning and research, which was lacking in most tertiary institutions.

“We all know the combination of many factors to include the increase in tariff which has become unbearable for these institutions, coupled with other issues,” he said.

Masari added that the provision of reliable power supply was expected to improve the quality of education and research in tertiary institutions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government has made plans to provide steady power to tertiary institutions through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

The REA aims to provide captive solar hybrid power plants to 15 federal tertiary institutions and two teaching hospitals.

This initiative is part of the government’s efforts to increase electricity access to underserved Nigerians.

While the exact timeline for the completion of this project is not specified, the REA has made significant progress in increasing electricity access to underserved communities, with more than 67 mini-grids and 995,396 solar home systems deployed.

The steering committee, which has been given two months to summit its preliminary report, is expected to be part of the implementation team. (NAN)