Except ‘miracle’ takes place in the power sector in Nigeria, it may take the country another 100 years to start enjoying a steady electricity supply as obtainable in the developed countries of the world.
This was a submission by a renowned chemical engineer, Prof Adesoji Adesina while delivering the First Nigerian National Merit Award Winner’s Lecture at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Akoka.
He spoke on “Making the Case for Agro-Based Energy Development; A National Priority for Sustainable Economy.”
According to him, Nigeria cannot continue to rely on fossil energy resources as it has been doing over years to drive its economic well being let alone enjoy steady and sustainable use of this essential commodity.
He said there is a strong necessity to diversify the nation’s energy mix to include renewable components at a much higher level than the current participation rate.
Prof Adesina, an alumnus of UNILAG and now a lecturer at the University of South Wales, Sydney, Australia, also noted that electricity production from renewable sources offers greater flexibility for growth and hence, consumption capacity with attendant improvement in the quality of human living.
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He explained that Nigeria is categorized among low human development countries of the world alongside countries like Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Kenya and so forth, and yet, the country is grossly underperforming as the electricity-facilitated quality of lifestyle remains low.
“And if the current attitude is maintained, we will need about 100 years to be in the same position that high human development countries are today,” he pointed out.
He listed the high human development countries to include China, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico and so forth while the
US, UK, Japan, Canada, France, among others are in the category of very high human development countries and South Africa, India, and Ghana, in the medium category.
“So, Nigeria needs immediate and sustained action on renewable electricity less carbon emission both to reduce the vulnerability to climate change and international economic fluctuations” he pointed out. “And these renewable energy resources for us as a country are wind, solar, hydro, biomass, nuclear and geothermal, among others.
He, therefore, advocated inclusive intervention that would involve government, private sector, regional and global financial institutions as well as non- governmental organizations to jointly tackle the electricity challenge facing Nigeria.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, promised that the university would rise up and utilize agro-based energy resources as shown by the lecturer. .
The Chairman, Governing Board, NiNMA, Prof. Shekarau Aku, on his part, spoke on the essence of the lecture, saying it is one of the most important programmes of the NNMA to provide solutions to societal challenges.
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