This week, in faraway Washington, United States of America, President Muhammadu Buhari restated the determination of the Nigerian government to achieve the vision of 30 Gigawatts of energy by the year 2030.
A recent Sterling Bank Plc and Stears Data report on Nigeria’s electricity crisis advocated the adoption of renewable energy as a viable solution to complement domestic and commercial supply.
The report, titled: “Powering Nigeria: How solar energy can become a sustainable electricity alternative,” showed that despite the privatisation of Nigeria’s electricity industry, the country still has one of the lowest electrification rates in the world as 43 per cent of its population have no access to grid electricity, an indication “that 85 million Nigerians are not connected to – and cannot receive electricity from – the Nigerian transmission grid.”
The report in a comparative electrification rate analysis noted that Ghana has an electrification rate of 84 per cent, Kenya 70 per cent, South Africa at 85 per cent, sub-Saharan Africa at 47 per cent, India at 98 per cent, Europe at 100 per cent, global at 90 per cent and Nigeria at 55 per cent.
It noted that while Nigeria’s electrification rate is above the sub-Saharan Africa regional average of 47 per cent, it lags significantly behind its peers across the continent and the global average.
According to the report, Nigeria’s grid-supplied electricity is grossly insufficient, thereby causing the country to have the largest electricity access deficit in the world.
During a panel discussion at the Just Energy Transition at the ongoing US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in the American city, President Muhammadu Buhari outlined the comprehensive Energy Transition Plan unfolded by his administration in response to the issues associated with climate change.
“As part of the National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy, we set the vision 30:30:30 which aims at achieving 30GW of electricity by 2030 with renewable energy contributing 30% of the energy mix,” the President said. “Last year, Nigeria became the first African country to develop a detailed Energy Transition Plan to tackle both energy poverty and climate change, and deliver SDG7 by 2030 and net-zero by 2060.”
The President said Nigeria intends to completely eliminate the use of petrol/diesel generators by 2060. The country, he said, will deploy renewables, particularly solar, at an unprecedented scale. For instance, the Energy Transition Plan requires that 5.3gw of solar be deployed annually until 2060 to achieve the nation’s targets.
Yet, the necessity to reduce carbon footprint in the country and the continent remains a growing concern, for many businesses in Nigeria, the greater concern is how to generate adequate electricity to sustain business operations. Considering the continent’s overall contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is already low at less than four per cent, deploying renewable energy is however necessitated by the need to reduce energy costs at a time diesel prices are bringing businesses to their knees.
Thus, the President said that Nigeria has embarked on several reforms, one of the best in Africa, on mini-grid regulations and the integration of renewable energy into the national grid.
Energy costs are a major contributor to the decades-high inflation numbers showing up, as prices for all manner of goods and services march higher. In Nigeria especially, diesel is considered an economic fuel, going by how embedded it is in transportation and power for homes and industrial firms.
With diesel rising above the N800 mark, many businesses have expressed concerns about available alternatives and the ripple effect on the cost of goods and services, especially at a time inflation is spiking.
For a nation with a poor electricity supply, the situation is dire, not just for businesses but for many households. Thus, in its report, Sterling Bank made a case for the kind of energy that Nigeria should focus on as it diversifies its energy generation mix.
According to the bank, renewable energy is not only better from a cost perspective for Nigerian households; it is ultimately better for Nigeria in the long run. On the positive, there is great potential for increasing the share of certain models of renewable energy. Solar power, for instance, currently supplies less than one per cent of Nigeria’s electricity.
The report also noted that the fact that other African nations with lower proportions of installed generated capacity coming from renewables, yet Nigeria still has lower electrification rates suggests that adding more sources of energy to be distributed through the grid will not suffice.
This is the primary reason, said the report, that off-grid renewable solutions should be explored as alternatives for even household users.
Thankfully, under the Nigeria Electrification Project, over four million people have been impacted through solar mini-grids and solar stand-alone systems.
Thankfully, too, the President called on United States businessmen and the global community to tap “into the innovation and potential returns in our enormous market which is yet to be fully optimised.”
Security agencies and 2023 elections
There is no gainsaying the fact that service members must appear politically neutral in carrying out their military duties. As Nigeria approaches the upcoming general elections in February and March 2023, military members need to be aware of legal limitations on engaging in partisan political activities.
Normally, the Nigerian military, during every general election season, used to come under pressure from corrupt politicians and sometimes government functionaries to compromise the elections.
However, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has said that such pressures will not deter the military from being professional and obeying civilian authority.
He said that security agencies would not succumb to pressure from politicians, or any other quarters, to compromise the 2023 general elections, stressing that measures are in place to ensure that security personnel obey President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to be neutral.
He said personnel are being trained to be professional before, during and after the elections, stressing that a Standard Operations Practice (SOP) has been codified and distributed to security agencies across the country.
Consequently, service personnel should be distributed the SOP for a comprehensive list of permitted and prohibited activities before participating in the forthcoming political activities.
Gratefully, Irabor said that the armed forces have heightened operational engagement across the country to tackle contemporary and emerging threats, putting contingency plans to facilitate the smooth conduct of the 2023 general elections in support of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said that measures have been put in place to safeguard critical national infrastructure just as the armed forces are committed to meeting their constitutional obligations to ensure a safe and secure Nigeria.
However, while measures are in place to guarantee good conduct for the military, the armed forces personnel should note that there are some restrictions and prohibited actions even when they are out of uniform and when acting as private citizens.
Therefore, the bottom line is that as military members, soldiers should give up some political rights to defend our system of government and country. They should use common sense and avoid activities that associate the armed forces with a partisan candidate or cause.
