The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Wednesday announced the approval by the state government of the provision of solar power to all public schools in the state, even as 134 junior and senior secondary schools won N268 million in this year’s Governor’s Award under the Lagos Eko Project.
Fashola, who spoke at the 10 Degrees Event Centre, Oregun Industrial Estate, venue of the event, said the State Executive Council has approved a pilot project of providing solar power in all the public schools in the state, adding that 172 schools would benefit in the first phase, which will run between now and May next year.
According to the governor, the first phase of the project, which is broken up into two sub-phases, will see about 35 schools in the riverine and rural areas of the state fully lit up and powered by solar power before the end of this year.
Noting that government would be decommissioning over 800 generators in all the public schools by the time the project is finished, Fashola also informed that the state’s Water Corporation is also working to install pipelines for direct water supply to 600 schools “as a first phase of ensuring that all our public schools get direct water supply”.
Fashola explained that his focus on electricity for the upcoming generation as the way forward was based on his believe that if their capacity is developed at this level, they would be able to improve the nation’s power sector, adding that it is the lack of electricity that is keeping Nigeria in poverty.
He attributed the current inadequacy of power supply in the country to the inconsistency and insincerity of the present administration at the federal level.
He said if those whose responsibility it is to provide electricity for Nigerians continue to lie about it, the only hope left is to focus on the upcoming generation through adequate education to generate electricity for this country.
He said as a result of inadequate power supply, an individual in a two-bedroom flat in Lagos spends over N500,000 a year providing his own electricity, generating power from generators, diesel and petrol, adding that if there is regular power supply, the cost of production would come down drastically, leading to an increase in employment as a result of increase in the income of individuals and business organizations.
Expressing pride at the achievements of the annual Governor’s Education Award, Fashola said the project was an innovation to bring competition to public schools performance evaluation as a way of improving the quality of learning outcomes and inspiring better results.
According to him: “We did not want to fall into any trap or any error of issuing grants and promoting complacency.
“We wanted competition because we know that if there is competition, there will be improved productivity.
“So, every school gets its annual grant, but by this competition that has been induced by the Governor’s Award, the successful schools now get an extra grant
Fashola explained that government was also careful not to make the grants personal and to make whatever was the reward for success from the governor’s grant to go to the school “in a way that it is the whole school that take collective ownership of the victory that they achieved”.
He added that the money that comes as a result of being a successful school in the Governor’s Award goes to the entire school.
Noting that there have been opportunities for individual recognitions, Fashola observed with joy that since the initiative started in 2010, no Education District has won it back to back, “which means that the improved performance has moved from Education District 5, who were the first winners in 2011, to Education District 2, who were the winners in 2012, to Education District 1 in 2013, to the successful Education District that will be announced today”.
He added: “In effect, improved performance has spread across our state evenly.
“The idea of this Award was meant to compliment the Eko Education initiative because it did not come with the Eko Project.
“We had embraced the Eko Project and we decided if we were giving money to these schools under the Eko Project how do we measure.
“So we decided let us put a Governor’s Award in order to inspire them to use their money innovatively, committedly and passionately and create a competition.”