An Examination of Energy Crisis in Nigerian Tertiary Education

Abstract

This paper assessed the impact of the energy crisis on Nigerian tertiary institutions. The paper employed secondary data. The secondary data were collected from government documents, print resources and online publications. Content analysis was used to narrow the literature to the theme of the study. Limited energy generation and distribution, corruption and non-generation of energy by tertiary institutions and power system maintenance/ vandalism were identified as factors responsible for the energy crisis in the tertiary institutions. Consumption of funds, poor implementation of teaching, research community service and fee increments were concluded as the impact of the energy crisis on tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Based on the findings, the paper recommends; that the federal government should increase investment in the energy sector. The investment should cover the procurement of facilities to aid the distribution of power generated; the federal government should direct all anti-corruption agencies to monitor funds allocated for energy sector development. Technologies should be deployed to curtain corruption in the energy sector. The federal and state governments should mandate DISCOs to introduce a dedicated social tariff band with reduced rates for public tertiary institutions across Nigeria. The federal and state governments should increase the funding of tertiary institutions across Nigeria. Tertiary institutions should embark on independent Power Supply projects and Solar Power Supply projects that will provide constant power for the institutions.