Energy source must be diversified to industrialise Nigeria – Onu

 
The Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that Nigeria must begin the process of diversifying the source of energy needs of the county in order to achieve meaningful industrialization. The Minister stated this on Thursday, while declaring open a Two-Day National Technical Validation Workshop on Sustainable Energy for All action Agenda in Abuja. Dr. Onu stated that it has become imperative for Nigeria to diversify its sources of energy to save the country from possible setback by a single energy source. “We have relied essentially on natural gas for the generation of electricity. This has created a lot of problems for the nation, particularly when gas supply is interrupted in anyways including the breakage of gas pipeline” According to the minister, “the geographical location of Nigeria in the tropics gives us great advantage in utilizing solar energy and also wind energy. we will also look at other renewable sources of energy . ‘‘Virtually all the developed and emerging countries including the United states of America, China, Germany and Russia , rely heavily on coal for electricity generation .
The Ministry intends to embark on research to see how coal fire plant can be made more friendly to the environment” “For me, this workshop is very important as it will help us meet the energy needs of our country. I urge you all to put your very best in the course of this workshop. Your recommendations would be useful to both the ministry and the nation”. Earlier, the Director-General of Energy Commission of Nigeria, Prof. Eli Bala stated that energy is essential in driving and growing national economies as well as improvement in standard of living of mankind; with fuels electricity and process heat being the most relevant forms of the final energy. “However, secured, available and affordable as well as sustainable energy has eluded many economies including Nigeria. It is against this background that UN secretary General, in September 2011, pronounced the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative , with the view to bringing all sectors of society , private, government, Civil Society and the Academia to support the three interlinked objectives of ensuring universal access to modern energy services by 2030” he stated .
On his part, the Country Director, United Nation Development Programme UNDP , PA Lamin Beyai, said that the Sustainable Energy for All Action Plan is an articulated strategies and activities for the promotion of sustainable energy which Nigeria really needs. Beyai stated that once validated the action plan will be a viable instrument to help coordinate strategies and activities to meet the objectives of Sustainable Energy for All Action plan In his keynote address, the lead consultant, ECOWAS Commission Prof. Ken Ike called on all the stakeholder to support the project which will put an end to energy poverty in Nigeria. He noted that Nigerian have in abundance all forms of energy and call on the government to provide the enabling environment for private sector to invest in the energy sector. The workshop is organized by agency under the Ministry, Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) in collaboration with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Nigeria and the United Nations Development Programme .