The Federal Government has been urged to devise its own strategy as part of efforts to end Nigeria’s dependency on oil in line with the global shift.
Senior Officer at the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Tengi George-Ikoli, noted that as a fossil fuel-dependent country, it is important that Nigeria develops its own strategy to engage the shifting global focus away from oil.
She stated this at a one-day capacity building workshop for media and civil society organisations in Nigeria organised by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), through its Natural Resource and Extractives Programme (NAREP), in partnership with NRGI.
The hybrid workshop, themed; “Oil Dependency in Nigeria: Imagining a Future Beyond Oil” was attended by 50 participants including journalists from the extractive sector, CSOs, and social media influencers to drive a discussion on oil dependency and the nexus with energy transition in the Nigerian economy.
George-Okoli said: “Nigeria must develop its own medium to long term strategy to mitigate the likely export and government revenue losses from a shrinking market base as these countries look to reducing oil reliance beyond 2030.”
She added that Nigeria must make strategic decisions in the way it spends its limited revenues, take economic diversification more seriously, leverage regional and global opportunities beyond oil and include new frontier possibilities available in the green economy.
Speaking in the same vein, Deputy Director, Development Practice at the CJID, Akintunde Babatunde, emphasised that as energy transition persists globally, Nigeria as a monolithic fossil fuel-dependent economy has to prepare for what the shift to cleaner energy sources means for its economy.
“Data is pointing us to the fact that Nigeria will likely lose a majority of its foreign exchange earnings and revenues for both the federal and subnational government, in fact, it is already happening, because Nigeria is at a critical point in its development process, it is important for professionals to discuss the way forward on how the decisions we make as a country are more important now than ever,” Babatunde said.
Also speaking at the event, the Acting Executive Director at CJID, Tobi Oluwatola, reiterated the need for capacity building for the media and the CSOs, noting that they are in the best position to enlighten the public from an informed perspective.
He said: “It is time for civil society organisations, journalists, and policy experts to have this discussion, most especially as Nigeria plans to achieve net-zero by 2060. There is a need for CSOs to be empowered with the right skills to be able to do the right advocacy and accountability work in Nigeria.”
Participants at the event also noted that energy transition is a crucial enabler to changing the country’s status quo since it is believed that energy transition plays a vital role in sustainable development and climate resilience and advocacy.
One of the participants and an officer with Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action), Precious Charles, said the workshop provided an avenue “for media and CSOs to improve reporting procedures by not only looking at the extent of dependence but also the indicators of government interest and reporting points.”
She added: “A lot of the issues raised really challenged journalists on how to write well-detailed articles that will challenge the policymakers to make the right decisions. We need to continue advocating for the decarbonization of the energy sector and push Nigeria into the age of energy transition.”
A journalist with Business Day, Dipo Oladehinde, opined that: “My biggest takeaway from the event is how Nigeria may be sleeping and ignoring an open secret concerning how the world is undergoing an energy transition from fossil fuels to a system based on renewable energy sources.”
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