NIGERIA's ENERGY POLICY UNDER FIRE

 *Confab Says It Does Not Promote Economic, Environmental Development

NIGERIA's energy policy came under severe attack at a national conference in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, with participants claiming that it underestimates the importance and gains of energy efficiency on the environment and economic development.

advertisement

Government, they said, has given so much attention to energy generation and distribution with little or no attention given to the efficient use of the energy generated, adding, ''Nigeria can save over 50 per cent of the energy we spend for lighting if we use energy efficiency light bulbs''.

These facts are contained in the resolution of the Abuja conference which was sent on-line to our correspondent yesterday. The confab which was aimed at romoting renewable energy and energy efficiency in the country was however, organized by the Community Research and Development Centre (CREDC), a group based in Benin City, the capital of Edo State.

Executive Director of the group, Etiosa Uyigue, who made the conference outcome available to our correspondent said they identified obstacles to the development of energy efficiency in Nigeria as lack of awareness; lack of energy efficiency policy; inappropriate energy pricing and cost subsidies; lack of trained staff, operators and maintenance workers; lack of capital and importation of used machines and vehicles; proliferation of inefficient equipment and desire to minimize initial cost; and low income.

''The efficient use of energy will help to minimize the building of new power stations and thus free up capital for other investments like health and welfare and reduce electricity bills'', the communique said, pointing out that efficient use of energy will leave more energy available to extend energy supply to all parts of the population.

According to them, ''energy efficiency will increase the efficiency and resilience of the economy – including reduced reliance on oil and thus improve balance of payments.

Energy efficiency will reduce the negative environmental and human health impacts from energy production and use and increase employment through interventions in the industry, housing, transportation among others, and the inefficient use of biomass to generate energy is contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases and leading to high rate of deforestation and desert encroachment in Nigeria''.

Continuing, they said, ''energy efficiency is one of the main drivers of sustainable development worldwide. The importation of used and inefficient vehicles into Nigeria is contributing to inefficient use of fuel. Energy saving of up to 30% can be achieved by shifting from energy-intensive transport to a less energy-intensive transport and by adopting traffic management schemes. The demand for gasoline and diesel could be cut by 30% by emphasizing public transportation over private transportation and putting in place good road networks that enhance the smooth flow of vehicular movement''.

Nigeria, according to them, has not benefited in the past from the CDM Funds because ''we have not properly organized ourselves. Nigeria is blessed with abundant renewable energy sources which are being under utilized''.

In the mean time, the 50 participants at the conference have organized themselves into a network: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Network (REEEN). The mandate of REEEN is to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency in Nigeria.

The 50 participants were representatives of civil society organizations, NGOs, religious organizations, academic institutions, the private sector, government and the media. The conference featured paper presentations, exhibitions, discussions, resolutions and the development of a roadmap to integrate energy efficiency into Nigeria’s policy framework.

The conference which had the following objectives: Enhance stakeholders’ capacity to advocate for energy efficiency and promote renewable energy technologies, create awareness on the concept of energy efficiency, and develop strategies to integrate energy efficiency policy into Nigeria’s policy framework, made these resolutions:

advertisement

They then called on Abuja, NGOs, international partners and the private sector to support the implementation of the resolutions made during the conference and support the implementation of the roadmap developed by the participants to integrate energy efficiency policy into Nigeria’s policy framework.