FG extends technology, clean energy intervention to Oyo

The Federal Government has extended its technology-driven empowerment and clean-energy intervention to Oyo State.

The intervention, under the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, provided beneficiaries with renewable-energy solutions, livelihood support and other practical resources designed to reduce living costs, improve productivity and strengthen economic self-reliance at household and community levels.

Speaking at the Oyo edition of the programme, held in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NASENI, Khalil Halilu, represented by the Director, Information, New Media and Protocol Unit, Segun Ayeyeonikan, said the initiative reflected a central shift in the agency’s approach to ensuring that technological development produced tangible benefits for Nigerians.

“This programme reflects a central conviction of the new NASENI: science, engineering and technology must deliver practical benefits that Nigerians can see, use and experience in their everyday lives.

“Our mandate goes beyond research, laboratories, and technology development.

It includes ensuring these technologies reach households, entrepreneurs, and communities, where they can reduce hardship, improve productivity, and create sustainable economic opportunities.

“Through NSEP, NASENI is connecting innovation with inclusion. We are providing beneficiaries with technologies, livelihood tools and practical support designed to address immediate needs while creating a stronger foundation for self-reliance,” Halilu said.

He explained that the empowerment items being distributed under the programme included NASENI Solar Home Systems, NASENI Clean Cookstoves and NASENI Support Packs.

“The Clean Cookstoves offer a safer and more efficient means of cooking, helping families reduce fuel consumption, household expenses and exposure to harmful smoke.”

He said the combined interventions were intended to reduce living costs, improve health, enhance productivity and enable beneficiaries to direct more of their resources towards education, enterprise and other productive activities.

“Our objective is not simply to distribute items. Meaningful empowerment must help people reduce costs, improve their productive capacity, earn income and exercise greater control over their economic future.

“The true value of today’s intervention will therefore be determined by how beneficiaries use the support they receive and the opportunities they create from it,” he said.

Halilu described Oyo as an important part of Nigeria’s economic and cultural history, noting its strong traditions of enterprise, agriculture, craftsmanship, education and commerce.

“Oyo occupies an important place in Nigeria’s economic and cultural history. It has a strong tradition of enterprise, agriculture, craftsmanship, education and commerce,” he said.

He said the energy and creativity of the people of the state made it a natural partner in NASENI’s efforts to bring technology closer to Nigerians and transform ideas into measurable impact.

He cited the intervention in Onitsha, where 100 young men and women received five days of practical training in modern electrical installation and maintenance and were equipped with tools to begin productive careers.

He also referred to the distribution of NASENI Solar Home Systems, Clean Cookstoves and Support Packs to households in Abatete, while similar interventions in Ohafia, Lagos and other locations had demonstrated how technology could directly improve living conditions and expand opportunities.

Halilu said the interventions formed part of NASENI’s contribution to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly its focus on job creation, economic inclusion, human capital development, clean energy and sustainable growth.

He said the programme also reflected NASENI’s operating principles of Creation, Collaboration and Commercialisation, known as the 3Cs.

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“We create solutions to real problems, collaborate with public and private stakeholders to deliver them, and support their transformation into sustainable social and economic value,” he said.

The NASENI chief executive expressed appreciation to Senator Sharafadeen Alli, representing Oyo South Senatorial District, for his leadership, partnership and commitment to the welfare of his constituents.

“I wish to express our sincere appreciation to the distinguished Senator representing Oyo South Senatorial District, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, for his leadership, partnership, and commitment to the welfare of his constituents,” Halilu said.

“Your support has helped make this programme possible and demonstrates what can be achieved when institutions and elected representatives work together around the real needs of the people.

“To our beneficiaries, I urge you to use the support provided responsibly and productively. Let it become a foundation for greater independence, stronger livelihoods and new opportunities,” he said.

“Maintain the items entrusted to you and ensure that their benefits extend to your families and communities.”

He said NASENI’s vision was to create a multiplier effect in which individual empowerment strengthened households, productive households strengthened communities and successful interventions contributed to wider economic progress.

“Our vision is to create a multiplier effect: one empowered person supporting a household, one productive household strengthening a community and one successful intervention inspiring broader economic progress,” Halilu said.

He assured Nigerians that the agency would continue working towards making technological advancement a practical force for improved livelihoods, job creation, industrial development and national prosperity.

“NASENI will continue to work towards a Nigeria where technological advancement is not an abstract idea but a practical force for improved livelihoods, job creation, industrial development and national prosperity,” he said.

In his remarks, the special guest of honour and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo, Sharafadeen Alli, represented by the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Yemi Aderibigbe, commended NASENI for extending the federal intervention to the state.

Alli said the programme demonstrated the importance of linking technological innovation with practical economic empowerment, particularly at a time when households and small businesses needed interventions capable of reducing operating and living costs.

He said access to appropriate technology and productive resources could help beneficiaries strengthen their livelihoods, become more self-reliant and contribute to economic activity within their communities.

“This is not just about receiving items; it is about creating opportunities for our people to become more productive, independent and economically empowered,” Alli said.

The APC governorship candidate stressed that the sustainability of empowerment programmes depended largely on how beneficiaries deployed the resources made available to them.

He urged recipients to take ownership of the opportunity, maintain the equipment provided and use the intervention as a foundation for developing sustainable economic activities.

“I encourage every beneficiary to see this intervention as a beginning, not an end. Use what you have received responsibly, improve your skills and build something sustainable from the opportunity provided,” he said.

Alli also commended the collaboration between NASENI, elected representatives, government institutions and communities, saying such partnerships could strengthen the delivery of public interventions and extend their impact beyond immediate beneficiaries.

“When government institutions, elected representatives and communities work together, the impact of interventions such as this can go beyond the immediate beneficiaries and contribute to wider economic development,” he said.