Yobe State has launched a rural electrification project spread across four local government areas: Damaturu, Bade, Nguru and Potiskum. The project is aimed at providing cheap and accessible electricity to rural communities in those areas.
The scheme has a six-month completion period. It is expected to create jobs for thousands of young people across the state and to boost the economy of the area.
Supported by the World Bank, the project forms part of a 60.82-megawatt energy pool under the Nigeria Electrification Programme, which aims to deploy over 1,350 minigrids across rural areas of the country.
The initiative complements the state government's efforts over the last seven years, a period in which 450 communities in Yobe have been electrified.
During that time, the government restored power supply to communities whose facilities had been vandalised in the wake of the Boko Haram insurgency. It also connected the Gulani and Yunusari local government areas to the national grid.
At the event, Governor Mai Mala Buni handed over certificates of compensation to those displaced by the construction of the projects.
He was later joined by other officials for the groundbreaking ceremony of the hybrid solar projects.