ONDO FIRST LADY TRAINS 200 STUDENTS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY

By Tope Musowo
No fewer than 200 female students from various secondary schools across the state have been admitted into the first batch of Intensive Solar Energy Training, organised by the office of the wife of Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty Akeredolu in collaboration with  a Non-governmental Organisation Ashadam Solar Initiative. 

The week long programme held at Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin and tagged "Solar 4girls Naija" was aimed towards enhancing the beneficiaries on the learning of energy management and exposed them to green energy source as well as basic solar energy electricity.

Other benefit of the programme were building of solar panel, life enhancement skills, sanitation and menstral hygiene, climatic change awareness, breast health awareness as well fitness and aerobics among others.

In her keynote address while declaring the programme opened, the wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs Betty Anyawu Akeredolu, who is also the initiator of the programme,  said the training was necessitated in view of the incessant power failure challenge in the country. 

She explained that the programme is the renewable alternative energy with a view to solving the power problem in Ondo State. 

According to her "You know very soon this oil will finish, and apart from that even as we have it in abundance,  we are still in darkness no electricity and that was what got me thinking and we arrived at this programme" she stated.

While congratulating the beneficiaries, Mrs Akeredolu advised people to live their comfort zone whenever they identified any challenge and get into the arena solution in order to prefer enlisting solution, stressing that the present ad I is traction in Ondo State will a.aways committed to the benefit of the residents of the state.

Similarly, in her remarks, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Ashadam Solar initiative, Mrs Damilola Ashaleye, said the choice of girls who benefited from the programme is to encourage female participating in the solar energy sector and to attain the much needed gender equality in the sector.

The COO  further said solution to climate change is renewable energy and assured the guest that the trainees will be able to build Solar base devices at the end of the training.

The well attended event had the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde. the chief of staff, Chief Ale, some commissioners designates,  special Advisers to the governor, staff and management of Elizade University, parents of the trainees among others.