Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
In light of the recent debates about the approaching switch to cleaner fuels, stakeholders in Nigeria’s renewable energy sector moved yesterday to harmonize the disparate policies in the government’s ministries, departments, and parastatals.
Dr. Immamudeen Talba, Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Associations (REEEA) Alliance, explained that there is currently a mismatch in the subsector during the opening of a three-day workshop in Abuja titled: “Review and Harmonisation of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policies of Nigeria.”
Prof. Abubakar Sambo, the organization’s chairman of the board of trustees, and Sulu Ibrahim, the director of the energy management division of the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), among others who spoke at the occasion, were among the speakers.
Talba went on to say that Nigeria needed to properly coordinate its laws and regulations, particularly with Cop 27 set to take place in Egypt later this year.
This session has been organized, he said, “to identify areas of grievances and mismatch within all the statutory policies or regulatory frameworks that we have in Nigeria, particularly all the instruments linked to energy and climate change.”
He continued by mentioning that two weeks ago, a pre-meeting conference was convened in light of Nigeria’s commitment to combating climate change, particularly in light of the cop 26 submissions and the targets pertaining to access to power.
The energy expert emphasized the need for adequate synergy between the Climate Change Act, the Energy Transition Policy, the National Renewable Energy Policy, the Nigerian Energy Efficiency Policy, and other measures.
“We want to synchronize all of these pledges and develop a framework, and we want to see a situation when Nigeria returns to the Cop 27 meeting, which is next in Egypt, with a presentation on what it has accomplished in relation to the commitments,” he remarked.
He explained that because several authorities are in charge of the policies, there has been little synergy and a lot of inconsistent attitude.
Because there is no one to harmonise the data, he continued, “If you’re looking for data, you scarcely see the data.”
While urging cooperation, he also emphasized the need for responsibility, particularly with regard to the ministries that are now working independently.
“Since there are no targets or goals, there won’t be any deliveries at the end of the day. You can see that nothing has been accomplished other than to spend money. Because of this, the alliance determined that it was necessary to bring everyone along, he noted.
The power ministry, environment ministry, finance, and a number of other government agencies were present, and Talba emphasized that any areas of disagreement would be resolved before the report was sent to the federal government.
Ibrahim stated during his presentation that the effects of climate change are already being felt worldwide, with livestock hungry, rivers drying, ice melting, forests burning, and humans and animals moving.
He believed that in order to checkmate or reverse the process, it was necessary to have a sound policy and an adequate policy framework that would inspire trust and lessen bias in operations.
