Nigeria’s lack of energy blueprint for the future raises concern from stakeholders

Embracing cleaner energy amidst pressing global and local demand for sustainable and environmentally-friendly sources is no longer a luxury but a necessity as stakeholders across the country continue to raise concerns over the Nigeria’s energy future.

Experts from different sectors, who converged virtually at the OLAN First Annual Future Series, tagged: “Talking Sustainability and Energy Transition: The Future of Living,” insisted that Nigeria risks becoming a dumpsite of phased out internal combustion engine automobiles from Western Europe, North America, and other developed countries.

This raises concerns on the impact a significant drop in demand for hydrocarbon road transport fuel would have on the security of demand for Nigeria’s oil.

Other looming challenges that could result from the global drive towards cleaner fuel for automobiles, according to Olarewaju include end of life policies for phased out internal combustion automobiles that are expected to be imported to countries like Nigeria and the demand for new clean energy transport and other infrastructure in the country.

Understanding and mitigating potential negative outcomes of these trends must become an urgent priority for stakeholders, especially policymakers, stakeholders noted.

For a hydrocarbon-rich country like Nigeria, Olarewaju argued that maximizing hydrocarbon resource utilization by investing in resource-development and improvements of institutions are some of the key implementable policy directions for the country.