Nigeria’s efforts to scale up delivery of seven million smart electricity meters and close its metering gap received a boost on Thursday, with the flag-off in Abuja of POWER FORCE, a training programme that will produce 5,000-meter installers across the country.
The Power Force programme is being implemented under the Presidential Metering Initiative (PMI), launched by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023. The flag-off ceremony, held at the headquarters of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), also featured the unveiling of the first batch of selected applicants, who will undergo a three-week intensive practical and classroom training in Abuja.
Close to 220,000 submissions were received from interested young Nigerians across the country during the application period.
Dignitaries in attendance at the event included the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe; the Minister of Youth Development, Ayo Olawande; the Executive Secretary of the Presidential Metering Initiative and Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas, Olu Arowolo Verheijen; and the Project Director of the PMI, Obafemi Solebo. The Governor of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), who also chairs the PMI Board, His Excellency Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, was represented at the event by Mr Edmund Obiora Nnaji, Executive Director, Finance and Administration at the NGF.
Other attendees included the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr Ayo Gbeleyi; the Managing Director of NAPTIN, Mr Ahmed Bolaji Nagode; and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Mr Adesayo Olusegun Michael.
In his address, Governor 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.” He called on fellow governors to explore “supporting this Power Force initiative with a view to expanding the pool beyond the initial five thousand trainees being targeted.”
Power Minister Tegbe said, “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.”
The Power Force initiative, he added, “demonstrates that our electricity reforms are not merely about equipment and technology; they are equally about creating opportunities, building human capital and securing livelihoods.”
He commended 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.”
Youth Minister 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.
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.”
Special Adviser 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.”
She added, “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.”
Following the Abuja launch, the Power Force training will expand to various centres across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. Upon completion, trainees will receive formal certification by NEMSA as qualified meter installers who have met national and international competence and safety standards.
