Nigeria Needs Multi-Sectoral Collaboration For Energy Transition– NEITI

The Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has said Nigeria’s push for energy transition will be frustrated without multi-sectoral collaboration.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, made the comment at the NEITI National Stakeholders’ Working Group (NSWG) Meeting monitored by THE WHISTLER on Thursday.

Crude oil earnings contribute a significant amount to Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings which is estimated at around 95 per cent. It also accounts for about 70 per cent of budget revenues.

But the agitation to reduce carbon emission especially from fossil fuel has become a huge threat to the earnings of Africa’s biggest crude exporter.

World leaders at COP26 in 2021 agreed to transition to net-zero emissions around 2050.

Nigeria and other African leaders are demanding for justice in the transition drive while choosing 2060 as a viable date to achieve net zero.

In 2009, rich countries pledged to mobilise $100bn a year from 2020 through 2025 to support climate efforts in developing countries.

In the Glasgow Climate Pact, it was noted “with deep regret” that developed countries failed to meet that goal in 2020.

Orji said, “Transition from carbon-based energy to renewable energy has been and has very far reaching implications for the global economy and implications for Nigeria with high level dependence on oil gas, extractive industries is even higher.

“For us, the implications are multidimensional and because they are multidimensional, our response must also be multi-sectoral. We therefore must adopt a multi-sectoral and multi stakeholder strategy to achieve a very successful energy transition programme for the largest economy in Africa.

“The transition risks have continued to raise questions about energy security, energy policy about natural resource dependence and its linkage to economic policy. It is about lives; it is about jobs; it is about impacted communities, it is about social politics.”

Explaining what the energy shift means for Nigeria, the Senior Governance Officer of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, Aaron Sayne, explained that countries like Nigeria have contributed only little of global emission adding that the transition from fossil fuel will affect its extractive sectors.

He said, “It will affect your oil and gas sector entirely in a way that is not in your control.”

Nigeria is looking for ways to exploit gas as it transitions fuel with a new bid to penetrate the European market with its huge gas deposits.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari had hinted on plans to build pipelines to Europe.

“Nigeria isn’t the only country looking to natural gas exports to replace or supplement their oil exports, or as a new revenue stream,” said Sayne.

He explained that the gas exports face a very uncertain future, adding that the future of gas price is uncertain.

According to him, building up a domestic gas sector is difficult because the infrastructure needed is complicated, time consuming and costs billions of dollars.