NCoS, REA sign MoU to power prisons, empower inmates

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The Nigeria Correctional Service NCoS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding MoU with the Rural Electrification Agency REA with a view to providing off-grid electricity for custodial facilities as well as training inmates on renewable energy.

At the event Monday in Abuja, Controller General of Corrections, Sylvester Nwakuche said the Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo had brought a mix of innovation, creativity and ideas to bear on the operations of the Service, adding that gone were the days when inmates were locked up and forgotten.

He said; “We are pleased to be here this morning to thank you immensely for considering us, when I say us, over 81,000 of my sons and my daughters in incarceration, in a community that is underserved, in a community that is forgotten in demographic planning, in a community that when people are doing other things in the larger community, they forget the people that are in that community.

“We are here not just to sign an MOU, but to deliver a collaboration that works, to deliver it on a platform that will provide renewable energy to this particular institution that will also assist in their rehabilitation, in their integration, in their vocational skills and training. With light, they say, who brings light, brings life.

“Some of them (inmates) also got news that we were coming together to provide more positive light for them, something that will help them and empower them upon release from custody. Today, we are not just empowering infrastructure, we are empowering lives. As we sign the MoU, I know it will go beyond just a vocation, it will go into the fabrics of our society”.

Earlier, Managing Director of REA, Abba Aliyu said the REA currently implements projects across all 36 states and the FCT, with over 160MW of off-grid solar capacity deployed, electrifying more than 1,650 communities, powering over 1,000
healthcare centres, and connecting more than 6 million Nigerians.

On his part, Executive Director, Technical Services at the REA, Engr. Umar Umar said, through the MoUs with various stakeholders, the agency is laying the foundation for a new chapter of accelerated impact.

“For instance, with the Nigerian Correctional Service, we are introducing clean energy solutions to enhance security infrastructure, vocational rehabilitation, and operational efficiency in correctional facilities aligning with human rights and justice sector reforms”, he said.

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