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Nigeria’s 13,000MW’ll Give Only 632 Citizens Healthy Living –Report

Published

2 years ago

July 24, 2022

Editor

The total installed power generation capacity of about 13,000 megawatts in Nigeria can only give a healthy life to 632.4 people out of the over 200 million citizens across the country, a report by the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics has stated.

Although Nigeria has an installed power generation capacity of about 13,000MW, it, however, generates far less than that figure daily.

Industry figures obtained from the Federal Ministry of Power on Friday, for instance, showed that power generation on the national grid that day (Friday) was 3,945.8MW, a far cry from the 13,000MW installed capacity.

This also implies that the number of persons to enjoy health living in Nigeria with this quantum (3,945.8MW) of electricity generation is far lower than the 632.4 figure captured in the NAEE’s report.

The NAEE, an affiliate of the International Association for Energy Economics, disclosed that findings showed that about 75 giga-joules/year, which translates to 20.55MW, was the quantum of electricity required to have a healthy life.

In the report, which was presented by the President, NAEE, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, at the just concluded 15th NAEE/IAEE Conference at the Petroleum Technology Development headquarters in Abuja, it was stated that while Americans used four times as much energy needed for healthy living, Nigerians hardly received energy.

The report read in part, “Americans use four times as much energy as needed to have a good and healthy life. The magic number is 75 giga-joules a year (20.55MW/20,555.556kwh). Americans use 284 giga-joules a year.

“Nigeria’s total installed capacity of 13,000MW can only give 632.4 people a good and healthy life. There are 200 million people in Nigeria.”

Power generation in Nigeria has been abysmal for years, fluctuating between 3,000MW and 4,000MW despite the privatisation of the sector in November 2013.

The country’s power grid has also been characterised by incessant collapse. The grid has collapsed about since times this year. Its latest collapse was recorded on Wednesday.

On Friday it was reported that the Federal Government had commenced “a full-scale investigation” to establish the cause of the national electricity grid collapse which occurred on Wednesday and caused blackouts nationwide.

The report stated that though engineers from the Transmission Company of Nigeria started grid restoration after the incident, industry figures seen on Thursday showed that power generation on the grid crashed from over 3,900MW to 3MW during the collapse.

Proffering measures to help mitigate the power supply quagmire in Nigeria, the NAEE in its report stated that renewables were probably the primary hope for about 50 per cent of Nigerians, as it presented great potential for off-grid communities in the country and other African nations.

“Decisive action is needed to voice access to clean energy for those presently living without it,” the NAEE stated.

It added, “Energy access should be just, inclusive and equitable, with no one left behind.”

In his submission on Nigeria’s energy situation, the Executive Secretary, PTDF, Bello Gusau, stated that Nigeria was faced with numerous challenges resulting from the impacts of climate change.

He, however, noted that country was taking measures to manage this challenge as well boost its energy supplies to citizens.

“And one of the most important steps the present administration took towards the actualisation of this transition was the declaration of a ‘Decade of Gas’ in 2020,” Gusau stated.

He added, “This laudable initiative serves as an opportunity to optimise the nation’s gas derivatives and deepen its market participation via infrastructure development and diversify into petrochemical products.”

The PTDF boss further stated that capacity building had an important role to play in this upward transition from petroleum to gas and ultimately to renewable energy.

“Consequently, the PTDF has been in the forefront of developing Nigerian human capacities for the petroleum and gas industry in this regard,” Gusau stated.

PUNCH

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Kudos As Nigeria Gains Additional Territory ‘Five Times The Size Of Lagos’

Published

2 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has commended the High Powered Presidential Committee, HPPC, on Nigeria’s extended continental shelf project, a team of experts who worked hard over the years to advance the project.

The president gave the commendation when he received the report of the protect yesterday in Abuja.

According to Vanguard, the project aims to extend Nigeria’s maritime boundaries in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.

The president expressed his appreciation in Abuja after listening to technical presentations by Professor Larry Awosika, a marine scientist and member of the committee, and Surveyor Aliyu Omar, Secretary of HPPC.

The experts have been involved in the project since Nigeria’s initial submission to extend its continental shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) in 2009.

They informed the President that the UN has approved Nigeria’s submission, granting sovereignty over additional square kilometres of maritime territory.

A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, quoted the President as saying: ‘’When the HPPC briefed former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022 on the status of the project, the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, was still considering Nigeria’s submission and having technical interactions with the HPPC.

‘’These interactions and consideration have now culminated in the approval for Nigeria to extend its continental shelf beyond 200M (200 nautical miles).

‘’As it stands now, the area approved for Nigeria is about 16,300 square kilometres, which is about five times the size of Lagos State,” Surveyor Omar told the president.’’

He added that the official notification of the decision was conveyed to Nigeria by the UN Nations Commission on the limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, in August 2023, shortly after President Tinubu assumed office.

Omar outlined the available options for Nigeria following the approval: “The first option is to take the area gained and finalize the registration with the UN Secretary-General and close everything, meaning that we are satisfied with what we got. This will take at least one year.

“The second option is to take what we have right now, acquire more data, do a support write-up, and make a revised submission as recommended by CLCS for further consideration. This will take another four years. Either way (options), Nigeria will keep what has been approved.”

In his presentation, Professor Awosika explained that the approval came after years of meticulous scientific research on geophysics, geology, geography, and diplomatic efforts, which solidified Nigeria’s legal rights over a vast expanse of seabed and subsoil beyond its traditional territorial waters.

Awosika highlighted the economic potential of the newly acquired territory, which includes hydrocarbons, gas, solid minerals, and a wide variety of sedentary species.

He, however, cautioned against total disclosure of sensitive data acquired during surveys, noting that this will jeopardize confidentiality as Nigeria is expected to monetize the information to recover project expenses.

Responding, the president thanked the experts for their diligence, emphasizing the significance of the achievement for Nigeria’s economic and strategic interests.
VANGUARD

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Police Give Tips On How To Report Erring Officers

Published

2 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Editor

The Police have urged Nigerians to take the advantage of its Complaint Response Unit, at the Force Headquarters, to report misconduct of its officers and men.

The Head of the unit, CSP El-Musta Sani, made the appeal at a Summit organised in Abuja by the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) in collaboration with the Foundation for Youth Empowerment and Social Justice.

Sanni said that the unit was created in 2015 to handle complaints against police officers from members of the public.

He said, so far, from the first quarter of 2024, the unit had received 459 complaints from members of the public against officers and men, through its social media platforms.

He further explained that 265 of the cases had been resolved while 195 were still being handled by the police.

According to him, “It takes the Unit 21 days to receive and conclude investigations on all complaints”.

He said it was worrisome that members of the public did not know about the platforms to channel their complaints.

“The major problem is that the institutions are there, but Nigerians do not know their functions.

“We receive complaints through WhatsApp, Twitter handles, phone calls, and walk-in petitions.

“And the Unit is directly responsible to the Office of the Inspector General of Police through the Public Relation Officer,” he said.

Sanni assured more sensitisation to enlighten the public to take advantage of the opportunity to lodge their complaint for proper handling.

In his remarks, the Chief Commissioner of PCC, Mr Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf emphasised the need to strengthen institutions to combat administrative injustice and corruption.

He noted that, properly developed institution is key to good governance, adding that the summit aimed to improve service delivery and ensure that the right to complain and raise issues was available to everyone.

“The purpose of this Summit, which is to foster collaboration between the Public Complaints Commission and other organisations, is quite timely and key to the understanding of the mandate of the Commission.

“The PCC, known as the Nigerian version of the Ombudsman, was established to investigate complaints regarding administrative actions,” he said.

Ms. Sandra Benson, the Director Administration, Foundation for Youth Empowerment and Social Justice, said that the Foundation and PCC were working hard to ensure justice for those who had faced injustices over the years.

Banson emphasised the need for collective action to address the issues, stating that now was the time to match voices with action for good governance.

She highlighted the importance of addressing citizens’ complaints about administrative actions and called for immediate responses, sensitisation of workers on grievance channels, and cooperation for swift justice.

“The Summit marks the beginning of important engagements with stakeholders and the PCC, aiming to restore trust in the system and liberate workers from bad leadership.”

Also speaking, Maurice Okoye, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jewel Social Empowerment Initiative, said that the critical need for consequence management in addressing issues in Nigeria was necessary.

Okoye cited the absence of consequence management as a major challenge, leading to lack of accountability among government agency heads.

He also mentioned the reluctance of many to seek justice due to a lack of confidence in the system.

He cited an example where one of his friends chose not to pursue justice after a robbery due to high costs and skepticism about the outcome.

Okoye called for a restoration of public confidence in the justice system and emphasised the need for accountability and responsibility among leaders.

NAN

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Google To Offer AI-generated Answers In Search Results

Published

13 hours ago

May 14, 2024

Editor

Google has announced it would introduce AI-generated answers to online queries made by users in the United States, in one of the biggest updates to its search engine in 25 years.

“I’m excited to announce that we will begin launching this fully revamped experience, ‘AI overviews,’ to everyone in the US this week,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said at an event in California on Tuesday, May 14.

Google’s search results will feature an AI summary at the top of the page before the more typical unfurling of links.

The AI answers generated by Google’s Gemini technology will offer succinct summaries of what it found on the internet with links to the online sources that supplied the information.

“You can ask whatever’s on your mind or whatever you need to get done – from researching to planning to brainstorming – and Google will take care of the legwork,” said Google Search team boss Liz Reid.

The change comes as Google feels growing pressure from AI-powered search engines like Perplexity, and from the rumors that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is building its own AI search tool.

Searches through AI chats have also appeared on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with users able to get information from the web without Google.

The change will soon spread to other countries, Pichai added, making it accessible to more than a billion people.