Due to lack of access to electricity, more than 199.9 million Nigerians out of 200 million people may not have a high-quality of life in comparison to the unites states.
This analysis comes in response to the statement made by Prof. Yinka Omoregbe, President of the Nigerian Association of Energy Economics (NAEE), on Monday at the 15th NAEE conference in Abuja, that Nigeria was lacking in the first of the nine criteria for a good quality of life, which is access to electricity.
“Let’s look at our country Nigeria with 200 million people; we have a total installed capacity of 13,000 megawatts (MW), and only 632.4 people can enjoy a decent and healthy life from the electricity that is produced; this is utterly inadequate,” Omoregbe remarked.
She urged African nations to unite in order to establish a path for the energy transition while exploiting their abundant natural resources, as opposed to giving in to pressure from developed nations pressing for action on climate change to dump fossil fuels.
Global warming, according to Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau, Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), is a reality in Nigeria due to hotter weather and flooding, but he also noted that the country was working toward an energy transition by designating the Decade of Gas and passing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The PTDF boss who was represented by the General Manager, Strategic Planning and Documentation, PTDF, Jide Adebulehin, also said the Fund which has hosted the NAEE conference for the sixth time, is retooling its programme towards energy transition by sponsoring researches and educational pursuits on renewable energy.
Chairman of the conference and Director General of Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Prof. Eli Jidere Bala, emphasized the place of energy in economic development.
Prof. Bala, represented by the Director, Energy Policy, Planning, ECN, Engr. Joseph Olayande, said over 600 million people lack access to electricity and 900m people lack access to clean cooking energy.
The Chair, Shell Group of Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, harped on the need to promote renewable energy as the transition has already begun.
“Africa and Nigeria in particular cannot be left behind. We need to seize the opportunity in the energy transition business and strategically position ourselves for these opportunities,” he stated.
source: DailyTrust
