“We thank the Federal Government of Nigeria for coming to our aid with this solar plant. It is our intention to use this facility as a laboratory for our students and staff in order to enhance their capacities.” – Professor Abel Idowu, Olayinka; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan
This is no fictitious claim, nor a well concocted one. Several news outlet give credence to my story. Starting with Vanguard two years ago, it reports that “University of Ibadan gets 10Mw NGEP solar plant” by Prince Okafor in the first few weeks of the year. The first line goes thus: “The Nigerian-German Energy Partnership, NGEP has installed a 10 megawatt solar plant at the University of Ibadan.” To verify the claim of a news media, there is no better way than it being corroborated by other news outlets. One of the most credible source in our media world, Channels TV follow up with “University of Ibadan Explores Solar Power Energy”. About eight months later, October 16, 2016 – reputable Punch Newspaper reports again as a way of confirmation that “Buhari inaugurates Nigeria’s first solar power plant in UI”. It went a step further to report the inauguration ceremony with Professor Anthony Anwuka (minister of state for education) who represented Buhari to have said, “Today’s groundbreaking ceremony is a culmination of more than two years negotiation involving UI, the Federal Government and German government. This is why the FG, through TETFund, has committed itself to this project with the provision of funds.”
Daily Post headline two years ago reads, “University of Ibadan dumps government’s electricity, set to run on solar power.” It further added that the German Ambassador to Nigeria – Michael Zenner said it was going to commence that year and the total cost is 17, 670 dollars (N3.52 million). Other news media that reported the same jawbreaking news include The Cable, The Tribune, Nigeria Bulletin, Pulse.ng amongst many others.
Oh! Forgive my choice of style, this is no news. Neither am I reporting its implementation but its lack of progress.
Before commencing the analysis that necessitated this piece, it isn’t out of place to speculate that a lot has gone wrong with the University of Ibadan, the Federal Government and the Solar Power project. Corroborating my point is another news published by Vanguard newspaper on January 24, 2018 titled “Government plans solar farms in nine federal varsities.” And more surprising is the fact that of the nine universities mooted for this proposed breakthrough in power, University of Ibadan is missing. This begs the question, what exactly has gone wrong?
Diving away from my exposing exordium, with events most especially during the latter days of examination period and more importantly, recently, I can’t but recollect the ray of hope that greeted the news of a Solar Power then. This fateful Sunday, from around 2pm on my way to church, I had to thrust forward both hands in covering-cum-protection mode. It was a declaration against the menace of the sun. While I wasn’t prepared to condemn mother-nature for acting without being called upon, I was lost in the reverie of its usefulness. It had not rained and thus could not have been said to have come to gather the moist up in the air in the evaporation to condense theory we were taught in our formative years in school. Then, it quite occurred to me, with the ferocity of that sun, my friend’s power bank would be charged, Rokibat’s solar lamp would be empowered and be ready for use when called upon. Even the inverters in some halls if not all, should traditional hearsays be trusted would be charged and be ready to manifest when the residences are getting engulfed by the perennial darkness associated with the night. But of all these, none is really of service to me. Before extending John Donne’s lines and cursing the “Busy Old Unruly Sun”, the situation on campus saved the curse, and refrain me from condemning mother-nature as unfair.
In the books, practically what we all see and in classes, we were all taught the sun is a source of energy – light energy. The embryonic epistemology of this is no alien to many, even in the early days of their primary education, provided they attended good schools taught by worthy teachers. That the sun provides solar energy which can be used to generate power supply is no longer a topic for debate. If it ever was, it must have been in the 19th century; meaning at least – over 200years ago. That the sun is a free gift of nature also, is a fact absolutely undisputed by none even when it choses its time itself subject to no influence. Lastly on this chain, the knowledge that the sun shines in all continents of the world and every part of the planet – earth is known and accepted even to the societal rejects.
The sun as a ‘natural resource’ is unlike the rare and expensive uranium used by developed countries nowadays for the supply of Nuclear energy as a source of power. 70% in France according to the Center for General Studies. More often, it has been concluded, that the problem of Africa especially Sub-sahara Africa abundantly blessed with sunshine is not the lack of, but the failure to harness these resources it is blessed with. As cheap as the sun is, it is laid to waste when it has the potential to end one out of our many problems; and most significant, productive and human-related wise. According to a maxim once used at the Inauguration ceremony of the short-lived Ojo Aderemi led administration by the Vice Chancellor, “there is no free meal, even in Freetown.” With the sun which is the major factor already a free gift, perhaps we can be forgiven to pose the question – “what is left…? Or should every other thing be free?”
In as much as power failure has been a loving guest of our dear Country even after 58years of existence, much as bad governance is; there is little excuse for our dear Universities – the Universal Cities expected to be an illuminating factor whose wealth of intellectualism is meant to affect positively the developmental process of the country. According to Bill Gates (though not verbatim), “it is not a sin to be born poor, but to die poor.” Just like humans have no say in choosing which class of family they want to be born and bred; tertiary institutions can’t choose their country of existence, not especially when it is apt that these institutions are mostly instituted by governments in power as an agency to help sanely fulfil its responsibility of ‘free education’. Sorry, ‘subsidized education’ – ‘nothing is free’, after all. Also, much like humans are given the free will and power to change their fortunes, tertiary institutions though founded and funded by the government are granted a respectable level of administrative and financial autonomy. It generates revenues and not only make laws and formulate policies, but as well execute them. This explains the lack of uniformity in the developmental process of each University regardless of the year of founding and notwithstanding the equitable underfunding of each Universities.
That your father never had a bicycle is no excuse for you dying at an old age without a car of your own. Bill Gates’ father today is unknown, and if known, must be consequent of his son’s monumental economic achievement. Aliko Dangote, Alakija, Warren Buffet, Christopher Columbus, Christiano Ronaldo, Ayodeji Balogun (Wizkid), Lebron James are just an atomic number in the chart of world celebrities whose parents had little to contribute with regards to their ‘famed-for’ success. Even football wizard – Lionel Messi’s parents are not only barely known but also had nothing to do with sports, let alone football.
Apropos in line with the above, the crème de la crème of the discourse thus far is that we can made bold to say that Universities have no excuse whatsoever for their self-inflicted incapacity to grow beyond the poverty and deceitful ‘developing’ status-quo of Nigeria. Neither can the frequent power failure governing the country day and night be blamed for the indecent and epileptic supply of power in Nigerian universities with University of Ibadan being the premier intellectual shrine as a case study.
That the federal government used 2 years to negotiate, inaugurate after 8 months of announcement and two years from then, we still reel in darkness shouldn’t be surprising considering the APC led administration has been phenomenal in canceling promises. Or perhaps, before vilifying the Buhari led administration, is it possible that this great citadel is the one delaying the implementation – the architect of its own problem? That President Muhammadu Buhari will be conferred honorary doctorate degree/award baffles anyone who might have thought just perhaps there is a breakdown in relationship between the federal government and the school management.
While nothing concrete explains the failure to actualize the Solar Power dream in the premier university, it is pertinent to note that even if University of Ibadan inaugurates and commence the effective usage of solar power today, it is no longer the pioneer. A citadel of learning, here in Nigeria and fast emerging is almost a year ahead of Unibadan (that is we start the usage today, something impossible). Thus begs, if a university could have achieved this grand feat over a year now, what is University of Ibadan waiting for?
To find out the acclaimed University with picture proof, await in patience, the return leg of this episode.
Till then, stay calm and alive.
