The Federal Government on Thursday pledged to deploy CNG-powered buses and tricycles within and around university campuses across the country as part of an effort to address rising transportation costs affecting students and staff of tertiary institutions.

The Executive Chairman, Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, Ismaeel Ahmed, made this known during a CNG awareness campaign at Bayero University Kano on Thursday.

He said the awareness campaign on Compressed Natural Gas, would be conducted in universities across Nigeria under a new campus mobility initiative.

The programme, implemented in partnership with FEMADEC Energy and the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, is designed to check rising transportation costs affecting students and staff of tertiary institutions in the country.

Ahmed, represented by Ms. Louisa Afu, said the initiative, known as Project SPROUT, would introduce affordable and cleaner transportation solutions to participating universities in the country.

“Project sprout is a university-focused clean and affordable mobility program, which is being implemented through a partnership between FEMADEC Energy, MDGIF and PiCNG & EV,” she said.

Afu explained that the project would involve the construction of CNG refuelling stations and vehicle conversion centres, as well as the phased deployment of CNG-powered buses and tricycles within and around university campuses.

According to her, the initiative is also aimed at improving public understanding of CNG technology and encouraging students to embrace cleaner mobility.

“As you may recall, following Mr. President’s May 29th Inaugural address, and the subsequent removal of petrol subsidy, which led to the establishment of the PiCNG and EV, with the mandate to move the nation to clean energy and mobility solutions, while attracting investment,” she said.

Afu disclosed that free CNG bus rides were offered to BUK students as part of the awareness campaign, allowing them to experience the technology and ask questions about its safety, operation and benefits.

“As you know, transportation is an important part of everyday life for students and staff of universities, and when the cost of transportation is high, it affects everyone,” she said.

She urged the students to become ambassadors of CNG transportation, stressing that public acceptance would be critical to the success of the federal government’s clean-energy transition.

The Project Coordinator of MDGIF-PiCNG projects at FEMADEC Energy, Engr. Ovoke Obire, said his organisation is supervising the construction of CNG stations and conversion centres in different parts of the country.

Obire explained that while MDGIF is providing funding for the construction of CNG stations and conversion centres, PiCNG is 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.

Also speaking, the Dean of Student Affairs at Bayero University Kano, Mukhtar Ibrahim Bunza, commended the initiative, saying it would help address transportation difficulties faced by students.

He expressed appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the intervention, describing affordable campus transportation as an important step towards reducing the financial pressure on students.