Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has said President Bola Tinubu has approved the provision of 500,000 solar-powered lights for rural households across the South-East region.
Kalu made the disclosure on Monday while flagging off the Renewed Hope Light-Up Project in his Bende Federal Constituency, Abia State. At the event, he distributed 26 units of transformers (reported as 300kVA or 33kVA in different accounts) to the 13 wards in the constituency, along with an initial batch of solar-powered lights and fans.
He explained that 42,000 households in Bende Federal Constituency have been earmarked for the solar lighting intervention. The first 1,000 units have already been distributed as samples, with another 10,000 expected within two weeks. The full rollout for the constituency will continue in batches.
“The president is intentional in making sure that the objective of the Renewed Hope Agenda is not just hanging on air, that the people feel the impact,” Kalu said. “What we are here to do is to drive that vision home by making it a mission that our people can feel and touch and experience light, that before now to many homes in Bende seemed to be a luxury, has been demystified.”
He described the project as the first of its kind in Nigeria, with an entire federal constituency of 42,000 homes set to receive solar lighting. The installations will be geo-located, monitored via phone, and guaranteed for 10 years.
Kalu linked the initiative directly to President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that after he informed the President of the scale of darkness affecting Bende’s 42,000 households, Tinubu approved the solar systems.
He added that the President is intentional about improving rural lives in addition to major infrastructure projects such as roads and hospitals, and that landmark initiatives often commence from the South-East because of Tinubu’s affinity for the region.
A representative of the implementing firm, Solar Systems Nigeria, Peter Oko (also referred to as Okoh), said the project includes youth training and empowerment in solar installation.
Local stakeholders, including Hon. Emmanuel Ndubuisi of Bende South in the Abia State House of Assembly, praised the intervention for restoring power to communities that had gone without light for years due to faulty transformers.The event also featured the signing of a contract for the restoration of a 33kV line in Item Community.
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