Buhari Tasks Nigerians on Homegrown Goals for Energy Transition
By YANGE IKYAA
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday assured that Nigeria is prepared to face the challenge of rising global demand for cleaner energy sources.
The President, who gave the assurance at the opening ceremony of the ongoing 2022 Nigeria Energy Summit in Abuja, urged the summit to develop smart homegrown goals for the country’s energy transition.
Represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, he noted that “we will ensure the optimal exploitation and utilization of the country’s vast natural gas resources, given the country’s potential of about 600 TCF natural gas reserves to diversify and grow Nigeria’s economy. We are fully aware that energy transition raises the bar in terms of environmental, social and governance demands and we are already building blocks that will ensure seamless energy transition, as the country joins in the race for net zero carbon emission ambition.”
This explains why the current administration declared natural gas as the transition fuel for Nigeria.
“I urge the summit to develop smart homegrown goals for the country’s energy transition. We are waiting to deliberate on the strategy paper from this summit and incorporate critical parts of it into government policies when necessary,” President Buhari maintained.
He also commended the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all agencies under the ministry for what he called “another world class summit.”
Also speaking in his capacity as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Sylva noted that for countries such as Nigeria, that are rich in natural resources but still energy poor, the transition must not come at the expense of affordable and reliable energy for people, cities, and industry.
“On the contrary, it must be inclusive, equitable, and just—which means preserving the right to sustainable development and poverty eradication as enshrined in global treaties such as the Paris Accord. It is evident that what makes the most sense from the point of view of “balancing energy security with environmental sustainability is the use of gas as a transition fuel.”
The Minister further explained that at the heart of this administration is the vision to drive infrastructure and industrial development of the country in order to prosper her citizens and make life more meaningful to all.
In his own words: “Natural gas ticks all the boxes as the vehicle to help government achieve the aspiration and that is why we embraced the resource to help turn around the economy by declaring period from 2021-2030 as Nigeria’s decade of gas.
