By Stephen Oladele
President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated in Kogi State, a renewable energy college described as first of its kind in Africa.
The college, Barefoot Renewable Energy College, (BARECKS) is in the Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, Kogi State.
The institution was inaugurated two years after its foundation was laid
The president said the college was designed as a vocational and technical institution to impact skills in renewable energy technologies.
Tinubu who was represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, said the college would address the shortage of competent technical manpower which he described as the widest gap in Africa’s energy transition.
He said the college would train technicians, installers, operators and maintenance professionals with practical skills in renewable energy technologies.
The president called on development partners, private-sector organisations, international institutions and research bodies to collaborate with the college in expanding research, innovation and technical training.
Tinubu who noted that people of the country had become accustomed to projects whose completion often takes longer than the tenure of those who initiated them said the speed of the project’s completion was significant
He stated: “Two years ago, we stood on this ground for the groundbreaking of this institution, with red earth underfoot and the ambition of a few determined Nigerians for company. Today, we stand before a world-class edifice, completed to international standards.”
