Rural electrification: the propelling force for rural development of Edo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Since the advent of technology, the ability for Man to do work has been enhanced by the discovery of various forms of energy and the efficient manage-ment of these energy resources. Thus, all over the world, the GNP of a nation depends on the energy consumption per capita and the growth in the macro-economics of the locality. This paper addresses the Edo State’s Governments Rural Electrification Scheme, which has been in operation since 1957. The population of the localities, the area coverage in square kilometres and the index of industrialization of the Local Government Area (LGA) are presented. The number of electrified towns compared with the total number of localities per LGA by the successive governments’ shows that the rate of rural electrification is 18%. Consequent-ly, industrialization and the standard of living of Edo State’s people are also seriously affected. It is rec-ommended that to enhance the economic disposi-tion of rural people, the federal government, state government, the local government authority, busi-ness operators in the localities and people involved, must put all their resources together to build stable and reliable electrification schemes all over the country, the back bone of any nations technological development and stable Gross National Product (GNP). The recommendations made will benefit other African countries in general.