The European Union, EU, has commended Enugu State under the leadership of Governor Peter Mbah for becoming the first state to key into the Nigeria Solar-for-Health Project, NISHP, an initiative of the EU to provide 24-hour access to clean, efficient, and reliable energy to public healthcare facilities across Nigeria.
The commendation was given by the Head, Green and Digital Economy Section, EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Miss Inga Stefanowicz, during a working visit by the delegation and its technical partners to the governor at the Government House, Enugu, on the sidelines of the official launch of the NISHP in the state capital.
Miss Stefanowicz said the EU was also interested in harnessing all the renewable energy potentials in the state, and would, therefore, be visiting some of the sites with such potentials.
“Congratulations for having been the first state and governor, who has committed time, resources, and money to this Nigeria-Solar-for- Health Project.
“It is a project that primarily addresses the issue of public sector service, being health service; that is also integrating this new approach of working through and with the private sector.
“This programme is a reference for anything and everything when it comes to power sector development in Nigeria, looking at the entire ecosystem and the stakeholders.
“We are here to have a comprehensive look at the opportunities in Enugu State and the potentials for our further cooperation,” she stated.
In his response, Governor Mbah appreciated the EU for partnering with Enugu State, noting that the EU objectives also aligned with that of his administration.
Mbah said that having embarked on the construction of 260 Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres across the state, his administration did not waste time to latch on to the NISHP once the opportunity presented itself.
“Some of the things you said about some of your strategic objectives also aligned with our broad strategic objectives, which speak to peace, security, inclusive economic development, and, of course, prosperity and sustainability.
“What we are doing with the EU and indeed the other development partners are largely at the core of our governance philosophy – partnership and collaboration – and being also very transparent and accountable.
“Since we assumed office, the issue of human capital development has been our preoccupation because we recognise the importance of providing the basic social services and the basic amenities for our people.
“So, a lot of these sectors: education, healthcare, and basic amenities like electricity, water, etc. are not things we joke with. For example, 33 per cent of our budget is dedicated to the educational sector where we are currently building 260 smart schools because we know that the true wealth of our nation largely comes from the standard of our public education.
“The same goes for the primary healthcare where we do not find the indicators in that space acceptable. What we did was to start the construction of 260 Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres. The idea is to make sure that our people have access to 24/7 primary health care. To achieve that, you must have power, and today, even when you have access to power, the costs of just even connecting to the grid are prohibitive.
“Therefore, this idea of having renewable sources is something we find very compelling to partner with, and when the proposal came, we did not spare any time or effort. we immediately latched on to it,” Mbah stated.
The governor also welcomed the interest of the Germans in helping to develop Enugu State’s renewable energy potentials, patterning with the state.
“I am also very glad to hear that there are windows of opportunities that we can also explore in the renewable space, whether it is hydro or wind. I am happy to hear that you will be visiting some of the sites to have a view. There is also the viability of wind, which also exists here. We have done exploration of that, and we know it is possible.” He concluded.
