The Federal Government has flagged off a training programme for 5,000-meter installers across the country.
The training, which was launched on Thursday in Abuja, is aimed at scaling up the delivery of seven million smart electricity meters to close the existing metering gap in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
The Power Force programme being implemented under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI) was launched by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.
The Flag-off of the programme held at the headquarters of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) also featured the unveiling of the first batch of the selected applicants, who would undergo a three-week intensive practical and classroom training in Abuja.
Organizers of the programme disclosed that close to 220,000 submissions were received from young Nigerians interested in participating in the programme across the country during the application period.
The Governor of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), who also chairs the PMI Board, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, was represented at the event by Mr Edmund Obiora Nnaji, Executive Director, Finance and Administration at the NGF.
In his address, Governor Abdulrazaq said, “PMI is not just about fixing the finances of the power sector through metering, but also about impacting the lives of young Nigerians, through training and skills development.”
He called on fellow governors to explore the prospects of supporting the Power Force initiative with a view to expanding the pool beyond the initial five thousand trainees being targeted.
Power Minister, Joseph Tegbe, said, “Behind every successful metering programme must stand thousands of competent, certified and dedicated technicians.
He said the 5,000 young Nigerians being trained under the initiative would become the backbone of Nigeria’s smart metering workforce.
The Power Force initiative, he added, was a demonstration that the country’s electricity reforms were not merely about equipment and technology, but equally about creating opportunities, building human capital and securing livelihoods.
He commended the Association of Meter Manufacturers of Nigeria (AMMON) over its recent decision to withdraw a court action it instituted against the meter deployment programme, noting “that singular decision has removed a significant obstacle to the accelerated deployment of electricity meters across the country.”
Youth Minister, Ayo Olawande said Power Force is directly supporting his Ministry’s “One Youth, Two Skills” initiative.
“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 said.
“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,” he added.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Arowolo Verheijen described the PMI as the largest metering programme in the history of Nigeria, established under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “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 said
Following the Abuja launch, the Power Force training is expected to expand to various centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
Upon completion, trainees would receive formal certification by NEMSA as qualified meter installers who have met national and international competence and safety standards.
