Federal Government Planning To Distribute Clean Cookstoves To Women Across Nigeria

The Federal Government is planning to distribute clean cookstoves to women across the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen disclosed this on Wednesday during the flag-off of a four-day training on gender mainstreaming for Sustainable Energy Development by the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in Abuja.

According to Daily Trust, Tellen expressed her gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the provision of clean cookstoves to local government areas in Nigeria.

She said, “We’ve witnessed large numbers of women dying, so we will make sure that every local government gets 1000 clean cook stoves.”

The Minister said the training was to build capacity of the rural women who bear the brunt of poor energy access in the six Area Councils of Abuja to enable them become the key drivers of efficient woodstoves usage, and it will also help to promote affirmative climate action in the energy sector.

The Director, Energy Training and Manpower Development at ECN, Abdulakareem Aliyu, lauded the women affairs minister for championing a clean energy era for more women saying it was the right thing to do.

ECN champions an energy mix that is reliable, clean and sustainable through stakeholders’ collaboration in the power sector and across other sectors.

On the use of clean cook stoves, the Minister of State for Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, last month said more than 90,000 Nigerian women and children die annually from firewood smoke.

Meanwhile, the price of ‘pure water’ could increase from the present N20 to about N50 per sachet if the federal government implements the proposed Excise Duty on carbonated beverages.