Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Roland Lausberg
Lagos (Agenzia Fides) - For the first time in his 30 years on Sagbo Kodji Island, near Lagos, the islanders have electricity at home, thanks to a solar power project that could transform the lives of the island’s 80,000 inhabitants. Most islanders fish for a living, and in the absence of electricity, they smoke the fish and try to sell it quickly – often at a low price. But with enough solar power, they could refrigerate their catch. So far only five out of nearly 7,000 houses in the village have solar panels. When the solar project was first mooted, many residents did not believe it would work, following a failed government effort to install solar street lights. After a few months, the light bulbs stopped working.
Sagbo Kodji Island is one of 34 riverine communities in the Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos in southwest Nigeria. The island, which has been settled for around a century, is bound by Apapa seaport to the south, but has yet to get an electricity supply. There is often a dense cloud hanging over Sagbo Kodji Island, due to the wood smoke from homes where women preserve fish or cook for the family.
Until recently, many children on the island believed light came only from small petrol-powered generators, unaffordable to most, or the floodlights of cargo ships sailing by to Apapa wharf. But several months ago, a handful of homes on the island were equipped with solar power under a pilot project led by Arnergy, a renewable energy technology company founded in 2013 by a young entrepreneur in Lagos.
The system enables users to pay from N100 ($0.50) to N500 per day for a 24-hour electricity supply, with power from the solar panels stored in batteries. Before the company installs solar panels in a home, it takes an inventory of the gadgets and appliances its residents will use, ensuring the right panel is supplied. But with more financial support, the social and economic life of the island’s residents could develop much faster. Businesses would come alive, children could study at any time of the day, and women would no longer inhale smoke that has damaged their health. According to a World Health Organisation report, indoor air pollution from solid fuel use kills around 80,000 people in Nigeria each year. Over 60 percent of the oil-rich country’s population is not connected to the national grid. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 16/12/2015)V
