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FG, REA begin 17.7MW Ibadan Mini-Grid Project, target 20 hours of daily electricity supply
The Federal Ministry of Power, through the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, has performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a 17.7MW interconnected mini-grid in Ibadan, Oyo State, marking another significant step in efforts to deploy new generation capacity, strengthen electricity reliability and stimulate economic activity across Nigerian communities.
Developed by Paras Energy & Natural Resources Development Limited, the project will provide additional generation capacity to serve the Bola, Jiboye, Ogo-Oluwa, Molade-Adelubi and Sooko Elega communities within the Iwo Road axis of Ibadan.
The intervention forms part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to complement improvements in the national grid with decentralised generation solutions that bring additional power closer to areas of demand. Upon completion, the project is expected to significantly improve the reliability and duration of electricity supply in the beneficiary communities, with a target of at least 20 hours of electricity supply daily.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, the Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, said the project demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to increasing electricity availability, strengthening supply reliability and ensuring that improvements in the power sector translate directly into economic opportunities for Nigerians.
According to the minister, the government’s focus extends beyond expanding electricity infrastructure to ensuring that additional generation capacity supports businesses, productive enterprises, industries and households.
“Our objective is clear: to increase the quantum of electricity available to Nigerians, improve the reliability of supply and ensure that electricity becomes an enabler of productivity, investment and economic growth. Projects such as this demonstrate how we are translating that commitment into infrastructure that directly serves communities and productive economic clusters.”
The Ibadan project builds on a growing portfolio of interconnected and isolated mini-grid interventions being implemented by the REA across the country. The agency has previously conducted groundbreaking ceremonies and advanced the deployment of interconnected mini-grid projects in several locations, including Pankshin in Plateau State; Kofare, Mbamba and Saminaka in Adamawa State; and other strategic locations across the country.
These interventions represent an important evolution in Nigeria’s distributed energy market, from smaller, access-focused systems to increasingly larger decentralised generation assets capable of supporting communities, commercial clusters and productive users while complementing existing distribution infrastructure.
The minister noted that this approach is being pursued alongside ongoing Federal Government interventions to strengthen generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure across the country. Planned and ongoing improvements along key electricity corridors are expected to progressively reinforce the reliability and resilience of Nigeria’s electricity supply infrastructure.
In his remarks, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, Dr Abba Aliyu, said the 17.7MW Ibadan project reflects the scale and ambition of a new generation of distributed renewable energy projects being developed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He explained that the REA’s priority is increasingly focused on deploying generation capacity where it can deliver the greatest economic impact while leveraging private-sector investment and sustainable operating models.
“This groundbreaking is about more than 17.7 megawatts of new generation capacity. It is about what that capacity will enable. Reliable electricity means longer operating hours for businesses, lower dependence on expensive self-generation, increased productivity, new investment and, ultimately, more jobs and economic opportunities.”
Aliyu added that the Ibadan project forms part of a much larger pipeline of investments being facilitated by the agency.
“Across Nigeria, we are demonstrating that distributed energy can move beyond addressing electricity access alone to becoming an important pillar of electricity reliability and economic development. From the interconnected mini-grids we have already broken ground on in different parts of the country to the new generation capacity now coming into Ibadan, our objective remains consistent: reliable electricity that powers productive economies.”
Upon completion, the Ibadan project will include the installation of 18 new transformers to strengthen electricity distribution within the beneficiary communities.
The REA is also advancing an additional 17.7MW of projects in Ibadan, targeting strategic institutions and economic centres, including the University College Hospital, the University of Ibadan and The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Together, these interventions demonstrate a deliberate strategy to build clusters of reliable generation capacity around communities, public institutions and centres of economic activity.
The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, commended the Federal Government for the intervention, noting that improved electricity supply would positively affect businesses, households and livelihoods across the beneficiary communities.
He expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the infrastructure projects being implemented across Oyo State and called for their timely completion.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Paras Energy & Natural Resources Development Limited, Yashwant Kumar, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to delivering the project efficiently and to the required standards. He noted that reliable electricity would have a transformative impact on residents and businesses within the project area.
The Ibadan groundbreaking reinforces the Federal Government’s and the REA’s commitment to a power-sector strategy in which new generation capacity, stronger networks, decentralised energy infrastructure and private-sector investment work together to improve electricity supply reliability.
For the REA, the ultimate measure of success is not simply the number of megawatts installed, but the economic activity those megawatts unlock: businesses powered, productive hours expanded, jobs supported, investments attracted and communities transformed through reliable electricity.
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FG, REA begin 17.7MW Ibadan Mini-Grid Project, target 20 hours of daily electricity supply
The Federal Ministry of Power, through the Rural Electrification Agency, REA, has performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a 17.7MW interconnected mini-grid in Ibadan, Oyo State, marking another significant step in efforts to deploy new generation capacity, strengthen electricity reliability and stimulate economic activity across Nigerian communities.
Developed by Paras Energy & Natural Resources Development Limited, the project will provide additional generation capacity to serve the Bola, Jiboye, Ogo-Oluwa, Molade-Adelubi and Sooko Elega communities within the Iwo Road axis of Ibadan.
The intervention forms part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to complement improvements in the national grid with decentralised generation solutions that bring additional power closer to areas of demand. Upon completion, the project is expected to significantly improve the reliability and duration of electricity supply in the beneficiary communities, with a target of at least 20 hours of electricity supply daily.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, the Minister of Power, Mr Joseph Tegbe, said the project demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to increasing electricity availability, strengthening supply reliability and ensuring that improvements in the power sector translate directly into economic opportunities for Nigerians.
According to the minister, the government’s focus extends beyond expanding electricity infrastructure to ensuring that additional generation capacity supports businesses, productive enterprises, industries and households.
“Our objective is clear: to increase the quantum of electricity available to Nigerians, improve the reliability of supply and ensure that electricity becomes an enabler of productivity, investment and economic growth. Projects such as this demonstrate how we are translating that commitment into infrastructure that directly serves communities and productive economic clusters.”
The Ibadan project builds on a growing portfolio of interconnected and isolated mini-grid interventions being implemented by the REA across the country. The agency has previously conducted groundbreaking ceremonies and advanced the deployment of interconnected mini-grid projects in several locations, including Pankshin in Plateau State; Kofare, Mbamba and Saminaka in Adamawa State; and other strategic locations across the country.
These interventions represent an important evolution in Nigeria’s distributed energy market, from smaller, access-focused systems to increasingly larger decentralised generation assets capable of supporting communities, commercial clusters and productive users while complementing existing distribution infrastructure.
The minister noted that this approach is being pursued alongside ongoing Federal Government interventions to strengthen generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure across the country. Planned and ongoing improvements along key electricity corridors are expected to progressively reinforce the reliability and resilience of Nigeria’s electricity supply infrastructure.
In his remarks, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, Dr Abba Aliyu, said the 17.7MW Ibadan project reflects the scale and ambition of a new generation of distributed renewable energy projects being developed under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He explained that the REA’s priority is increasingly focused on deploying generation capacity where it can deliver the greatest economic impact while leveraging private-sector investment and sustainable operating models.
“This groundbreaking is about more than 17.7 megawatts of new generation capacity. It is about what that capacity will enable. Reliable electricity means longer operating hours for businesses, lower dependence on expensive self-generation, increased productivity, new investment and, ultimately, more jobs and economic opportunities.”
Aliyu added that the Ibadan project forms part of a much larger pipeline of investments being facilitated by the agency.
“Across Nigeria, we are demonstrating that distributed energy can move beyond addressing electricity access alone to becoming an important pillar of electricity reliability and economic development. From the interconnected mini-grids we have already broken ground on in different parts of the country to the new generation capacity now coming into Ibadan, our objective remains consistent: reliable electricity that powers productive economies.”
Upon completion, the Ibadan project will include the installation of 18 new transformers to strengthen electricity distribution within the beneficiary communities.
The REA is also advancing an additional 17.7MW of projects in Ibadan, targeting strategic institutions and economic centres, including the University College Hospital, the University of Ibadan and The Polytechnic, Ibadan. Together, these interventions demonstrate a deliberate strategy to build clusters of reliable generation capacity around communities, public institutions and centres of economic activity.
The Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, commended the Federal Government for the intervention, noting that improved electricity supply would positively affect businesses, households and livelihoods across the beneficiary communities.
He expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the infrastructure projects being implemented across Oyo State and called for their timely completion.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Paras Energy & Natural Resources Development Limited, Yashwant Kumar, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to delivering the project efficiently and to the required standards. He noted that reliable electricity would have a transformative impact on residents and businesses within the project area.
The Ibadan groundbreaking reinforces the Federal Government’s and the REA’s commitment to a power-sector strategy in which new generation capacity, stronger networks, decentralised energy infrastructure and private-sector investment work together to improve electricity supply reliability.
For the REA, the ultimate measure of success is not simply the number of megawatts installed, but the economic activity those megawatts unlock: businesses powered, productive hours expanded, jobs supported, investments attracted and communities transformed through reliable electricity.
FG, REA begin 17.7MW Ibadan Mini-Grid Project, target 20 hours of daily electricity supply
Malnutrition admissions at 10 health facilities supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in north-eastern Nigeria rose 18 per cent in the first nine months of 2026.
The facilities recorded nearly 20,000 admissions between January and September, up from about 17,000 in the same period of 2025, the ICRC said in a statement on Thursday.
The figures cover six health centres and four hospitals. Young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers were among those most affected.
Mubi in Adamawa State saw the sharpest rise, from about 4,600 admissions in the first nine months of 2025 to approximately 5,700 this year, an increase of nearly 24 per cent.
The latest numbers follow earlier ICRC warnings about rising demand for nutritional treatment in conflict-affected areas.
In October 2024, the organisation reported a 24 per cent increase in severe acute malnutrition admissions between the third quarters of 2023 and 2024, from 6,824 to 8,470.
Admissions of children under five with severe acute malnutrition and medical complications also rose from 1,212 to 1,691 in the same period.
These figures cover different reporting periods and patient categories and cannot establish a continuous three-year trend.
They do, however, show repeated increases in demand for nutritional treatment.
Mothers struggle
At the Mubi Stabilisation Centre, Zulaihatu Mohammed brought her six-month-old daughter, Huseina, one of her twins, for nutritional support.
“When I gave birth to them, this one was tiny,” she told the ICRC. “I came today for the routine collection of children’s food. She is not feeling well. Since I gave birth to her, she has been unwell.”
Armed violence, climate shocks and economic pressures have disrupted livelihoods and limited access to food.
According to the ICRC’s video report, farmer Saminu Ijaduwa cultivates a small plot near his home because explosive devices have made more distant fields dangerous.
“Due to the conflict, going one kilometre out of town to farm could be highly risky. You might not return!” he said in the ICRC report.
Restrictions on farming and disrupted markets have made it harder for families to produce or buy enough food, particularly affecting young children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Humanitarian response
In a March 2026 report, the ICRC said more than 36,000 people received treatment for severe acute malnutrition at its supported facilities in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states during 2025.
The total included more than 16,000 children under five and more than 19,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The organisation also provided cash assistance to more than 17,000 vulnerable families during the 2025 lean season.
Those annual treatment figures are not directly comparable with the new nine-month admission totals.
The ICRC said it is working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society to support 15 primary healthcare centres and four hospitals and to assist more than 200 communities with malnutrition treatment and food-security programmes.
Interventions include supplying farmers with seeds adapted to drought and flooding, promoting crop diversification and teaching mothers to prepare nutritious meals from local ingredients.
One such mixture of sorghum, millet, soybeans, groundnuts and moringa, known as Tom Brown, has helped more than 13,000 young children recover from moderate acute malnutrition, according to the ICRC. Mothers are also taught how to prepare it at home.
READ ALSO: Over 87,000 children treated for malnutrition in Katsina in eight months – MSF
Wider food insecurity
The rise in admissions comes as the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) identify Nigeria among the world’s hunger hotspots of highest concern in their June to November 2026 outlook.
Citing United Nations analysis, the ICRC said more than 34 million people in Nigeria were expected to face insufficient access to food in 2026, the highest figure in six years.
In the North-east, prolonged conflict continues to restrict access to farmland and undermine household livelihoods, according to the ICRC.
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The spokesman of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, of ruining the lives of Nigerians with its policies.
Responding, APC spokesman, Felix Morka, accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, of contributing to the country’s economic problems.
The two spoke during an appearance on News Central’s Breakfast Central on Thursday, where they assessed the performance of the APC government ahead of the 2027 general election.
Abdullahi said the Tinubu administration’s policies have worsened the living conditions of Nigerians and asked the government to admit its failings and change course.
He likened the administration’s approach to trying to fix a pothole but destroying the entire road in the process.
“What they tried to do in the last three is like trying to fill a pothole, and in the process they end up leaving the economy in a ditch,” Abdullahi said.
The ADC spokesman said government policies should be judged by how they affect the lives of Nigerians, not by what government claims about them.
“There is nothing wrong in admitting that your prescription or your solution has not worked,” he said.
Morka, however, dismissed Abdullahi’s criticism, saying Atiku Abubakar, the ADC’s presidential hopeful, contributed to Nigeria’s economic problems.
He accused Atiku of poor leadership and said his time in office contributed to the country’s economic decline.
“Let me make clear that my good friend speaks for a candidate who is easily the most critical actor in the economic sabotage of this country,” Morka said.
He also said the former vice president left a poor record in office and alleged that the government he served wasted $16bn meant for power projects.
According to him, the APC government is now trying to fix problems created by previous administrations, including the one Atiku was part of.
According to him, Atiku “left a sordid record of performance; destroyed Nigeria’s national assets; created the economic void that governments since then have been trying to fill; squandered 16 billion US dollars meant to provide electricity.”
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