By Uzo Ugwunze
Acting Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Prof Joseph Ikechebelu has assured uninterrupted electricity supply following commencement of installation of prepaid and postpaid meters in the university community.
Ikechebelu gave the assurance on Tuesday while flagging off of the meter installation, commissioning of Vending/Control Room and equipment and signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sabrud Consortium Nigeria Limited.
He commended the task force committee for prompt delivery on its mandate, assuring metering of all facilities in the institution in no distant time.
He said, “I’m the happiest person today for the simple reason that this is the first time such is happening in the university.
“When I assumed office, I thought of what to do to change the nightmare narrative in terms of electricity so as to have progressive staff and students.
“Light, water and food remain the basic necessity of life. You can’t think and talk of innovation and discovery with empty stomach and in darkness.
“What started as joke is now a reality. We can now boast of audit of our electricity consumption and appropriate payment. That’s why we came up with the Light up UNIZIK mantra.
“With this development, we can now hieve sigh of relief, especially in terms of what we spend on running generators.”
The UNIZIK boss however charged the firm to ensure efficient service delivery to guarantee sustenance of the partnership.
“You’re lucky to have us partner with you because the university will announce your firm through our goodwill and legacy,” he added.
Earlier, Chairman, Task Force on Electricity, Comrade Stephen Ufoaroh thanked the VC for the opportunity to serve, expressing joy that the mandate of restoring power supply and ensuring its steadiness had been realized.
He said the choice of Sabrud Consortium Nigeria Limited from over five vendors that applied after rigorous scrutiny, was informed by its quality, indigenous and proximity advantage, especially with regards to emergencies.
He said, “The journey, though not easy, but we’re glad we’ve recorded some milestone. We’ve been able to regulate use of power in the university to reduce wage billings.
“We’ve also raised funds which we used to offset debts incurred with EEDC before we came on board and to pay more before the year runs out.
“We are optimistic of having our own energy center to generate our own as well as to address estimation and predictions which will attract investors.
“In the MoU, we insisted on certain symbiotic relationships with the firm, particularly in terms of research and other academic activities.
“While our students can carry out their IT in the firm, their staff can lecture us on the metering technicalities as well as how we can domesticate the meters in the university.
“On any case of bypass, we agreed on N100,000 fine penalty while the customer will be disconnected until the fee is paid with written undertaken that such act will not be repeated.”
Responding, Managing Director Sabrud Consortium Nigeria Limited, Mr Chiso Nwangwu said the initiative was informed by the distribution firm’s exorbitant charges and the challenge of proper management of power by the university.
“We had to come in after approval, with the enumeration and capturing of high consuming customers, including the banks, community cooperatives who discovered that what they were paying was far less than what they were consuming.
“The metering was to eliminate meter theft and bypass. Our factory and meters are here and we’re willing to have cross incubation of knowledge and local content, including training of engineers and technologists from this institution.
“UNIZIK, by this move, is the first eligible customer in Anambra State. They’re now independent and the time of blackout is over. Kudos to the management,” he stated.
Present at the occasion which also witnessed visits to meter installation cites included Dean of Engineering, Prof Solomon Nwigbo, Director Technology Incubation Centre, Prof Azubogu Austin and others.