Borno hospitals get solar-powered electricity after two years in darkness
By Njadvara MUSA, Maiduguri
Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno state has directed the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovations to install solar-power systems to provide electricity to the Umaru Shehu Ultra-Modern and Fatima Ali Sheriff Maternity Hospitals in Maiduguri.
The directives were made at the weekend (Saturday), following the Governor’s unscheduled Friday night visit to the Umaru Shehu hospital.
On reaching the Hospital, Zulum, however, met patients on admission in darkness without electricity for several days.
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Piqued by the plunging of hospitals into darkness, he queried, “It’s regrettable that no official either from the Hospital Management Board or the Ministry of Health drew my attention to this outage.”
He, therefore, directed the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation technicians to install a solar power system with standard batteries and solar panels.
Besides, he noted that this was to restore an uninterrupted electricity supply to the 300-bed capacity hospital in Bulumkutu Community.
The Ministry’s Commissioner, Dr Babagana Mustapha Mallambe, also sought permission from his colleague in charge of the Ministry of Health to commence solar power installations in the two hospitals, including parts of the Bulumkutu community.
According to the Governor, “More sustainable measures are expected from the State government to install solar power systems to critical health institutions,” lamenting that patients had been in darkness because there was no diesel to power the standby generators.
The two hospitals have been relying on generators since 2021; because of a lack of electricity supply from the national grid.
The Boko Haram terrorists destroyed electricity tower lines three times along the Maiduguri-Damaturu road on January 27, 2021.
Consequently, the Federal and Borno State governments tried to fix it. Still, they failed, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) pledged to complete the 50 megawatts gas plant in Maiduguri, the state capital.
