Nigeria’s energy future is bright – Onu
By Charles Okonji
The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has said Nigeria’s energy future is bright.
Onu disclosed this when he declared open the National Energy Summit in Abuja on Tuesday, adding that the energy sector is going through a transition, as Nigeria is preparing for a post crude oil era.
The Minister who chaired the summit, called for more foreign and local investment in the energy sector of the economy.
“I call for both foreign and local investment to help us build the necessary infrastructure needed for efficient and effective exploitation of the huge energy resources available in the country,” he noted.
He pointed out that the Federal Government has provided the necessary incentives to grow and sustain investment into the energy sector, adding that there is favourable return on investment (ROI) in Nigeria’s energy sector.
Onu expressed optimism that Nigeria’s membership of the International Energy Charter (IEC) will improve Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country.
He urged the relevant stakeholders to support Nigeria’s assent into the IEC.
“May I at this juncture express support of my Ministry to ECN (Energy Commission of Nigeria); and also call on stakeholder Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as the National Assembly to support the efforts being made to assent to the IEC treaty.
“This National Energy Summit seeks to highlight how Nigeria’s membership of the International Energy charter will deepen growth and development in our energy sector for sustainable national development.” He said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Director General, International Energy Charter (IEC), Dr. Urban Rusnak said that his organisation is keen to support Nigeria’s effort to attain sustainable energy in the near future.
Rusnak, who participated virtually, said Nigeria has to transition from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy, stressing that it must be cheap, clean, efficient and sustainable.
Also speaking, Director General of the Nigerian Energy Commission, Prof. Eli Jidere Bala, called for enhanced participation of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), in the growth of sustainable energy in the country.
He expressed that the major objective of the summit is to bring to the fore, how Nigeria’s membership of the IEC would facilitate energy sufficiency and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.
