The Federal Government’s efforts to improve the billing efficiency in the nation’s electricity sector with the planned distribution of seven million smart electricity meters to consumers and close its metering gap received a boost on Thursday, with the flag-off of its POWER FORCE, a training programme aimed at technically empowering 5,000-meter installers in the country.
The opening session of the training, which was held at the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), featured the unveiling of the first batch of selected 5,000 applicants out of the about 220,000 that apllied, who will undergo a three-week intensive practical and classroom training on meter installation in Abuja.
Speaking at the event,Governor of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, said: “PMI is not just about fixing the finances of the power sector through metering. It is also about impacting the lives of young Nigerians, through training and skills development.”
Abdulrazaq, who is also the chairman of the PMI Board and was represented at the event by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration at the NGF, Mr Edmund Obiora Nnaji, urged all governors to explore “supporting this Power Force initiative with a view to expanding the pool beyond the initial five thousand trainees being targeted.”
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In his keynote address, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, explained: “Behind every successful metering programme must stand thousands of competent, certified and dedicated technicians. The 5,000 young Nigerians being trained under this initiative will become the backbone of Nigeria’s smart metering workforce.”
According to him, the Power Force initiative, demonstrates that Nigeria’s electricity reforms are not merely about equipment and technology and they are equally about creating opportunities, building human capital and securing livelihoods.
Tegbe lauded the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) for withdrawing a court action it had instituted against the meter deployment programme, noting that “that singular decision has removed a significant obstacle to the accelerated deployment of electricity meters across the country.”
Speaking at the forum, Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande said Power Force would directly support his ministry’s “One Youth, Two Skills” initiative.
He clarified: “This is not just the launch of a training programme; it is about creating jobs and opportunities for Nigerian youths to contribute to national development.
He added, “President Tinubu’s administration has demonstrated that Nigeria’s federal ministries, departments and agencies can have the force of collaboration in making sure the dividends of democracy get to everybody in the country”, the minister added.
The Special Adviser on Energy to the President, Olu Verheijen, described the PMI as the largest metering programme in the history of the country designed to “solve one of the biggest barriers to a reliable electricity sector: ensuring that every Nigerian pays only for the electricity they actually use.
“One young installer cannot transform Nigeria. But five thousand can inspire fifty thousand. And fifty thousand can inspire millions more. That is how movements begin. One opportunity. One person. One act of service at a time”, she added.
According to the government’s Power Force training schedule, after the Abuja launch, it will be conducted in the six geopolitical zones and on the completion of their programme, the trainees will receive formal certification by NEMSA as qualified meter installers, who have met national and international competence and safety standards.
