TheKwara State University has recorded another breakthrough of conversion of Five vehicles to Electric and CNG compliant as a better alternative for Nigerians to ride their vehicles.\Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Friday on the sideline of successes recorded, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Shaykh Luqman Jimoh, said that to make conversion of vehicles to either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or electricity more affordable to Nigerians, the leadership of the Kwara State University (KWASU) has called on financial institutions and banks in the country to institute special funding to assist Nigerians for the conversion.
The Vice-Chancellor, who suggested that the financial assistance by the banks could be in the form of loans, said that people who signify interest in the facility could then pay back gradually within a specified period, stressing that this would make life easy for everyone.
Professor Jimoh who said that the university will soon open a site for the conversion of vehicles added that a total sum of N854,000 was saved within seven weeks using electric vehicles.
He said,”For instance, we use this 14-seater electric bus for seven weeks to take staff from Ilorin to the Malete campus of the university. We saved N840,000 that should have been spent on fuel. One would have saved at least 50% of conversion money within a year using the CNG or electric vehicles. The battery has a life span of about 10 years minimum”.
Jimoh highlighted the gains of the conversion including cut in cost and environmental benefits, stating that while a litre of Petroleum is sold for N1,200, “a kilogram of gas is just N200, aside from that, the risk of carbon inhaling is obviously nonexistent.”
The Vice-Chancellor, also said that the institution has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with two Chinese companies to supply conversion kits (branded with KWASU) in order to fully go into commercialization.
KWASU he added is the first in the entire country to achieve this feat with the two Chinese firms: ZHEJIANG SINRAY ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED and JIAXING KEYUAN ELECTRONICS COMPANY LIMITED.
He said that partnering with reputable Chinese companies for the supply of CNG conversion kits is a proactive step to ensure quality and avoid substandard products that could pose safety risks.
Shaykh Jimoh also urged Nigerians to invest more in renewable energy as it is economical, saying that conversion saves the cost of buying fuel and reduces emissions.
Though he complained that the nation’s universities are grossly underfunded, he however said that KWASU hoped to get more funds from the vehicle conversion project as it’s another window to generate Internally Generated Funds (IGR).
The Vice-Chancellor further said that the university had partnered with the Kwara State Ministry of Business, Innovation and Technology ministry to convert vehicles, adding that 22 vehicles in the fleet of the state transport company, Kwara Express, would soon be converted to CNG vehicles.
He said: “When we converted our first two vehicles to electric, we presented them to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, who commended and supported our efforts.
