Precious Anga
Lagos — The Federal Government has launched a 50-megawatt power project aimed at improving electricity supply to industries and supporting the creation or restoration of about 180,000 jobs, particularly across major industrial corridors.
The project, launched in Abuja, is expected to support the government’s drive to provide 24-hour electricity to industrial areas, with Idu Industrial Estate identified as one of the immediate beneficiaries.
Minister of State for Industry, John Owan Enoh, said the intervention was part of the Federal Government’s broader industrialisation strategy, which is focused on local production, value addition, economic diversification and stronger integration of Nigerian industries into global markets.
Enoh said inadequate electricity supply remained a major constraint on industrial efficiency, adding that reliable power would enable businesses to reduce production costs and expand their workforce.
He said, “When you produce locally, you contribute to job creation. For our abundant youth, you provide them with a pathway for employment.”
The minister also stressed the need for private-sector operators and beneficiary communities to protect the infrastructure to ensure that the investment delivers its intended economic benefits.
Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, disclosed that the government was conducting technical audits of electricity infrastructure along major industrial corridors, with the Lagos industrial axis, Abuja-Kaduna corridor and Enugu-Onitsha axis identified as priority areas.
According to Tegbe, the Lagos industrial corridor accounts for about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s electricity demand, making improvements in power supply along the axis critical to industrial activity.
He said the government was targeting the creation or restoration of about 180,000 jobs in the Lagos industrial corridor within the next six months through interventions designed to improve electricity supply.
The government’s latest intervention therefore links power infrastructure directly to industrial production and employment, with the 50MW project forming part of efforts to address electricity constraints in industrial locations.
Chief Executive Officer of Welbeck Electricity Distribution Limited, Afolabi Aiyela, assured Nigerians that the company would provide constant electricity supply under the project.
