The Federal Government has announced plans to deploy Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses and tricycles within and around university campuses across Nigeria to reduce transportation costs for students and staff.
The Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (PiCNG & EV), Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this on Thursday during a CNG awareness campaign at Bayero University Kano (BUK).
Ahmed, who was represented by Ms Louisa Afu, said the campaign would be extended to universities nationwide under a campus mobility initiative known as Project SPROUT.
The programme, implemented in partnership with FEMADEC Energy and the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), is designed to provide cleaner and more affordable transportation options for tertiary institutions.
Afu said the initiative would involve the construction of CNG refuelling stations and vehicle conversion centres, alongside the phased deployment of CNG-powered buses and tricycles within and around participating campuses.
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“Project SPROUT is a university-focused clean and affordable mobility programme, which is being implemented through a partnership between FEMADEC Energy, MDGIF and PiCNG & EV,” she said.
She explained that the initiative would also promote public awareness of CNG technology and encourage students to embrace cleaner transportation alternatives.
Afu said free CNG bus rides were offered to BUK students during the awareness campaign to enable them to experience the technology and learn about its safety, operation and benefits.
She noted that high transportation costs affected both students and university staff, urging students to become ambassadors of CNG-powered mobility to support the government’s clean-energy transition.
The Project Coordinator of MDGIF-PiCNG projects at FEMADEC Energy, Engr Ovoke Obire, said the organisation was supervising the construction of CNG stations and vehicle conversion centres in different parts of the country.
Obire explained that MDGIF was funding the construction of the facilities, while PiCNG was providing buses and tricycles for transportation services in participating institutions.
He added that subsidised CNG conversion kits would also be made available to university staff, with up to 1,200 kits expected to be provided for each participating institution.
The Dean of Student Affairs at BUK, Mukhtar Ibrahim Bunza, commended the initiative, saying it could help ease transportation challenges faced by students.
He also thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the intervention, describing affordable campus transportation as an important step towards reducing the financial burden on students.
