By Nnamdi Ojiego

The epileptic supply of electricity in Nigeria, especially in rural areas, has had adverse effects on the general development of the country including the educational sector.

According to the Energy Progress Report 2022 released by Tracking SDG 7, Nigeria has the lowest access to electricity globally, with about 92 million persons out of the country’s 200 million population lacking access to power.

This situation has necessitated an urgent need for both government and corporate interventions to address the situation.

Therefore, as Nigeria continues to face a daunting challenge of consistent and stable electricity supply, Bluetti, a renewable energy solutions provider, is lighting households and communities grappling with persistent power challenges within Africa to improve access to electricity.

Bluetti, through its ‘Lighting an African Family (LAAF), a Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, project, penultimate Wednesday, donated 20 solar system kits to support Oke Odan Baptist Primary School in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.

According to the company, the LAAF project was the brand’s commitment to make clean energy available to millions of African households as the devices would provide stable lighting and energy supply, solving the power shortage problem that the school often faces.

The event took place at the school premises where Bluetti handed the equipment to the school including selected outstanding pupils. The presentation also witnessed live demonstrations of the usage and functionalities of the power solutions.

The Sales Manager of Bluetti Nigeria, Jeffery Zhang, who was at the event, said the brand has always been committed to promoting the application of renewable energy and practicing corporate social responsibility.

According to him, the company “will continue to work hard to enable more families live in a bright environment; so that every child has equal learning opportunities, every mother has a more convenient life, and every father has more opportunities and possibilities”.

He added that LAAF program is a continuous and long-term CRS project intended for impoverished families and communities, and encouraged institutions and regions in need of the solar solutions to reach out to the company Speaking after taking delivery of the equipment, the Head teacher of the school, Mrs. Patience Akintomide, who could not hide her excitement, described the donation as timely, noting that the solar kits would provide the pupils with rich educational resources despite unstable power supply.

While commending Bluetti for the gesture, a school teacher, Oluwatomisin Adekunle, who approached the energy company for the support, explained that, as a 21st century teacher, technology is one of the advantages to leverage on for effective content delivery, stressing that “the absence of instructional materials makes the internet an only option but electricity is a hindering factor.”

He added that the donation would tremendously impact the daily operations of the school as “Bluetti is out to improve the living conditions of people that don’t have access to electricity through the LAAF initiative”.