By Yange Ikyaa
Against the backdrop of rising fossil-fuel cost and the global drive to replace them with renewables on account of their climate-hostile nature, coupled with the necessity to protect the natural environment and species against such threats, Nigeria has also been pushing its own ecosystem preservation agenda.
This has been accentuated by multiple initiatives, such as the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP), the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), which includes the autogas promotion agenda, and many others that form part of the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to slowing down greenhouse gas emissions, reducing warming and keeping climate change at bay.
NDCs are climate action plans primarily designed by nations that are parties to the Paris Agreement in order to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and adapt to climate-change impacts. Each party to the Paris Agreement is required to establish an NDC and update it every five years.
In 2015, Nigeria adopted an ambitious NDC policy, being among only a few developing countries to set an economy-wide target. The country’s NDC commitment, which was updated in 2021, pledged an unconditional contribution of 20% below business-as-usual by 2030 and a 47% contribution conditional on international support towards climate change mitigation.
Earlier this October, the Federal Government said it has voted N100 billion for the procurement of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses with high-carrying capacity as a way of expanding the nation’s mass transportation capabilities.
The government also disclosed that this initiative is being complemented with the deployment of CNG conversion kits, numbering 55,000, in order to activate an emergency national auto-gas conversion programme, even as the country awaits the availability of standard CNG conversion stations, which are now said to be under construction.
Valuechain findings show that the Federal Government is currently planning to unveil such standard CNG conversion kits through pilots on 10 campuses across the nation in the coming months.
The nation’s target for emissions reductions has been aligned with a global mandate to ensure that average global warming is held at a maximum level of 1.5oC or lower. Beyond this limit, atmospheric and ecological changes could be triggered that may make life increasingly unbearable for people and other species on the planet.
It has been widely claimed that Nigeria could reach peak greenhouse-gas emissions reduction in this decade, if the nation can mobilize the necessary international support and private sector investments that are critical in achieving this target.
However, before the present moment, several policy commitments had already been made by Nigeria in a bid to implement its unconditional contributions. These include eliminating kerosene lighting by 2030, a 50% reduction in the fraction of crop residues burnt by 2030, and implementing forest programmes to deliver a 20% GHG emission reduction.
On the basis of these policy commitments, it has been projected that, by 2050, Nigeria will be a country of low-carbon, climate-resilient, and high-growth circular economy, with an emissions reduction of 50% compared to the current levels.
In a related development, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has confirmed its partnership with Femadec Energy Limited for the provision of CNG-fired vehicles to 20 universities in Nigeria.
The Authority explained that it did this in an effort to help bring down the high cost of transportation being experienced by Nigerian students in schools across the country.
Farouk Ahmed, the Authority’s Chief Executive, assured that NMDPRA continue to create an enabling environment to accelerate CNG adoption as a transition fuel in Nigeria, which is in line with the Federal Government‘s Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Also commenting, the Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), Mansur Kuliya, also said that the program has been aligned to the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI).
MDGIF was established by section 52 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) as a federal corporate body to manage funds and provide equity investments for government infrastructure related to midstream and downstream gas operations as a way of increasing the domestic consumption of natural gas, encouraging private investments in midstream and downstream gas projects and reducing gas flaring in Nigeria.
The Femadec-NMDPRA partnership is expected to accelerate the roll-out of CNG infrastructure as a special palliative that will lessen the transportation burden on students and staff of tertiary institutions and ensure clean energy adoption towards Nigeria’s net zero agenda.
Unfortunately, while most of these commitments have been pursued by the Federal Government, there is very little or outright inaction from most states.
But the government of Edo State has been widely seen by many as a frontrunner in the area of autogas mainstreaming, alongside Lagos State. Apart from these two states, it is very difficult to see any significant progress in this direction in most of the other states in the country.
Just recently, Edo State said it had procured a number of new CNG-powered buses to enhance an already existing fleet for the State’s free transportation program. Godwin Obaseki, who is the Governor of Edo State, made the disclosure during his Independence Day speech on October 1.
The Governor also said his administration was actively taking multiple measures, with respect to available resources in the State, to respond to the recent removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.
His words: “We have introduced free transport service for passengers on all routes operated by the state-owned Edo City Transport Service (ECTS), among many support programs that the Edo State Government has put in place to reduce the challenge, sufferings and exorbitant cost of living faced by Edo people.
“We are glad about the salutary impact of this initiative which covers 13 intra-city routes and several intercity city routes daily, covering towns and villages within the State’s three senatorial districts.
“Over three hundred thousand residents have benefited from the scheme in the first two weeks of the palliative program, while we expect over 1,500,000 residents are projected to benefit in the initial two months of the free transport initiative. We have placed new orders for additional CNG-run buses to increase the fleet.”
Together with Edo State, Lagos State combines to make the number of two states which have stood out of the pack of 36 Nigerian States and the Federal Capital Territory, in terms of climate change mitigation efforts.
Through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), last year, the Lagos State Government commenced the pilot phase of the use of CNG-powered buses for commuter services on the Marina-CMS to Lekki-Ajah-Epe bus routes.
The frantic efforts being made by the Lagos State government at climate change mitigation may not be unconnected with the fact that its impact on the city is getting more severe with each passing year, with rising sea levels leading to frequent flooding.
In Northern Nigeria, wind erosion often sweeps away houses and farms due to extensive levels of deforestation, over-grazing and desertification; while in the southern region of the country, gully erosion and flash floods remain a perennial nightmare.
The above scenario underscores the need for greening the Nigerian economy, not just by the Federal Government and its programmes, or by just few subnational entities, but by all states and municipalities within the federation.