6 hours Ago By Idowu Abdullahi
Idowu AbdullahiThe Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has disclosed that over 80,000 Nigerian women die from firewood and traditional cooking stove toxins annually.The minister described the situation as social injustice, adding that the ministry would spare no efforts in ending premature deaths caused by firewood and traditional cooking stove toxins.Sulaiman-Ibrahim disclosed this at a multi-stakeholder engagement in Abuja on Wednesday.
The event organised by the ministry had “PowerHer 774 – End Energy Poverty for Women” as its theme.She explained that with the right collaboration with relevant ministries and agencies, the initiative would end energy poverty for Nigerian women.“Each year, some 80,000 Nigerian women die prematurely from toxic smoke emitted by firewood and traditional cooking stoves,” she revealed.
According to her, the ministry will provide access to energy through solar home systems, clean cooking technologies, solar water pumps, e-mobility tools, and other productive-use appliances in every corner of this nation.“Today we begin stakeholder engagements to eliminate energy poverty for women in all 774 LGAs. We will deliver life-saving, life-changing clean-energy solutions across the country,” she said.
“The urgency could not be greater. These 80,000 women are not statistics—they are mothers, providers, nation-builders. Their deaths are avoidable, unjust, and must end on our watch.
“Energy poverty is not just a technical challenge, it is a social injustice.“It locks women in cycles of unpaid labour, economic dependence, and health risks. In many communities, women spend up to eight hours a week gathering firewood,” she added.
She explained that her ministry would collaborate with other ministries, financial institutions, local manufacturers, global tech firms, women’s cooperatives, and development agencies.“We’re connecting policy to people, innovation to impact, and gender to growth. This is our moment.
This is our mission. It is ‘Women O’clock,’ and this is the energy-poverty revolution we’ve been waiting for,” Sulaiman-Ibrahim explained.On his part, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to stabilising the power sector by empowering three million Nigerian women.
He lamented that energy scarcity also limits women’s economic opportunities and access to productivity-boosting tools.“Between 2025 and 2027, we will empower three million women in all 774 local government areas with clean-energy solutions,” Adelabu said.Adelabu said his ministry will deliver these technologies through the Rural Electrification Agency.
“The Ministry of Power, via REA, is already rolling out people-centric projects. We are expanding access through decentralized renewable energy systems, solar home kits, clean-cooking initiatives, and productive appliances for homes, small businesses, and farms,” he said.On his part, the Managing Director, Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Abubakar-Aliyu, said under the 550 million dollars Nigerian Electrification Project, about eight million Nigerians and 35,000 businesses were impacted, out of which 12,000 were women-led businesses.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu approved 750 million dollars for grid projects out of which 410 million dollars had been earmarked for mini-grids and 240 million dollars for solar home systems.“So, there is a huge opportunity for us to replicate and to make sure that we scale this intervention across the country,” Abubakar-Aliyu said.Copyright PUNCH All rights reserved.
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