The Federal Government has revealed that plans are underway to use compressed natural gas (CNG), which the country has in abundance, to reposition the transportation sector in cities across the country.
The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, stated this when he received the compiled “Implementation-Ready Report on National Strategy Development for the Adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) based Transportation System in Nigeria’s Urban Cities” yesterday in Abuja.
While assuring that the report would get prompt attention, Adegoroye appreciated the former minister. “I appreciate that the last minister who was here before, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, had the initiative to set up a committee to work on this. I think it is a wonderful Initiative.
“I assure you that Nigerians must say something about us, that we took steps to get things done and be in tandem with what the world wants or what the world desires at this time.”
The minister said that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose health and environmental consequences and Nigeria cannot afford to lag, considering she is a signatory to the Green House Gas (GHG) Emission Policy aimed at reducing carbon emissions into the environment.
Presenting the report to the minister earlier, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani explained that the report was sponsored by World Bank and done by Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) through the Federal Ministry of Environment with highlights on strategic steps to take in the adoption of CNG vehicles in the transportation sector in the country.
“It would help us in kick-starting the revolution in the change of the transport sector, with vehicle conversion to CNG on the adoption of CNG vehicles, for our road transport mode within the urban city to start with.
“In a couple of years, original equipment manufacturers will probably not be supporting vehicles that are powered by diesel or gas, as everyone is moving towards electric vehicles (EV).”
He said that the reports take into cognizance how Nigeria can move from diesel and premium motor spirit (petrol) to natural gas in about 10 to 15 years.
It will be recalled that in May 2019, the Federal Executive Council of Ministers approved a national action plan to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. This plan, developed by the Federal Ministry of Environment, aimed to improve air quality and reduce Nigeria’s contribution to climate change through 22 specific mitigation measures in 8 source sectors (transportation, cooking and lighting in households, industry, waste, oil and gas, agriculture, power and HFCs) with the Federal Ministry of Transportation vested with the task of coordinating the implementation of these mitigating measures.
