In a bold and transformative step toward eradicating energy poverty in Nigeria, the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, FSI, has officially launched the End Energy Poverty Stakeholder Engagement, calling on national and international partners to join hands in delivering clean, sustainable energy solutions to millions of Nigerian women.
Addressing a hall filled with government stakeholders, development partners, innovators, and grassroots advocates, the Minister declared this moment as a national turning point—where “we move from planning to purpose, from promise to power.”
“We are no longer waiting for change; we are becoming the change,” the Minister proclaimed.
The Ministry’s new clean energy initiative—designed by women, for women, and powered through women—targets all 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria with a bold goal: to eliminate the injustice of energy poverty and unlock economic, health, and social opportunities for women across the nation.
Key pillars of the initiative include:
Solar home systems, clean cooking stoves, solar water pumps, and productive-use technologies tailored for rural and underserved communities
Training and certification of women energy entrepreneurs, solar technicians, and Energy Hub managers
Deployment of solar-powered tools for agriculture, SMEs, and cottage industries
A multi-sectoral coalition connecting ministries, financial institutions, women’s cooperatives, tech firms, and development partners
The urgency is stark: more than 80,000 women die each year from smoke-related illnesses due to unsafe cooking practices. Over 85 million Nigerians still live without electricity—most of them women and children in rural areas.
“These women are not statistics—they are mothers, providers, and nation-builders,” Minister Imaan said. “Their deaths are preventable. Their lives matter. And the time to act is now.”
In a rallying cry to the nation and beyond, the Minister emphasized the movement is bigger than any single intervention:
“This is not just a project. It is a movement. A call to action. A national energy revolution with women at the helm.”
The engagement was co-hosted by the Nigeria Consumer Credit Corporation, reinforcing the Federal Government’s commitment—under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda—to creatively pool resources and deliver inclusive, gender-responsive development.
“It is Women O’Clock in Nigeria,” the Minister concluded. “This is the energy revolution we’ve been waiting for.”
Signed
EmemMARIA Offiong
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