FG doubles efforts on 24-hour power supply, targets 180,000 jobs

The Federal Government announced plans to boost electricity with a 50-megawatt power project expected to deliver 24-hour electricity across the country, especially within Idu Industrial Estate in Abuja.

The government explained that the move formed part of the country’s broader industrialisation initiative to reduce production costs and create approximately 180,000 jobs.

Minister of State for Industry John Owan Enoh, who gave the assurance at the launch of the power project in Abuja, said electricity remains a setback to industrial efficiency.

The minister added that the government’s industrial strategy was built around local production, value addition, diversification and stronger integration of Nigerian industries into global markets.

He said, “When you produce locally, you contribute to job creation. For our abundant youth, you provide them with a pathway for employment.

“The private sector and beneficiary communities would be required to protect infrastructure and ensure the projects deliver their intended economic benefits.”

Also, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed that the government was conducting technical audits of power infrastructure in major industrial corridors, with the Lagos industrial axis, the Abuja-Kaduna corridor and the Enugu-Onitsha axis identified as priority areas.

Tegbe added that the Lagos industrial corridor accounted for about 40 per cent of national electricity demand and that the government was targeting the creation or restoration of about 180,000 jobs in the axis within the next six months through interventions to improve electricity supply.

Chief Executive Officer of Welbeck Electricity Distribution Limited, Afolabi Aiyela, assured Nigerians that his firm would provide constant power supply.

The post FG doubles efforts on 24-hour power supply, targets 180,000 jobs appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.