50 villages to be connected to electricity supply in Plateau

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From MARIAM ALESHINLOYE-AGBOOLA, Jos
Over 50 villages in Plateau State will soon begin to get stable electricity supply with the completion of the Makeri 50 mega watts substation in Jos, even as the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, assured Nigerians that as from next year the country will begin to enjoy stable electricity supply.
Addressing the National Good Governance Tour team led by the minister who visited the new substation, the Principal Manager of the Zaria Road Transmission Station, Mr. Thomas Duniya, revealed that once the two by 60 MDE substation was commissioned and other modalities completed, villages mostly located around the Jos South Local Government Area would begin to enjoy electricity supply.
He revealed that another substation of two by 40 MDA had also been completed in Pankshin, which would hook up with the Zaria substation, explaining that PHCN was waiting for the state government to hook up with the rural areas sovthat they could take more load from the newly constructed substation to supply the southern part of the state. He said the Pankshin substation would supply the southern part of the state including Shendam.
The information minister pointed out that as part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s economic recovery programme, similar substations were being put up in different parts of the country including Lafia and Zaria, while the Federal Government was also waiting for the gas power plant to be completed for the country to begin to enjoy stable electricity supply.
He said government wanted to ensure there was enough infrastructure on ground for transmission in order not to have power waste once it began full generation of electricity, assuring Nigerians that there would be no retardation in supply but improvement from now on. The minister who also led the team to Nigeria’s Technology Incubation Center in Jos urged Nigerians who went for imported products to now have preference for local products because Nigerians were producing high quality goods.
The minister who inspected leather products including shoes and bags, fabricated metal works, solid mineral processed products, certified that security agencies no longer needed to import shoes from abroad because Nigerians were producing good quality ones.
“Most of the entrepreneurs at the center who have benefitted from the ‘You Win’ programme of the Federal Ministry of Finance are presently employing at least 10 workers to carry out their manufacturing, most of which are being sold locally for now.”