The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has said that Nigeria will join other countries of the world to exploit atomic materials for more energy supply.
Speaking during the validation workshop of the draft revised national energy policy and its related master plan today (February 21) in Abuja, he said Nigeria is watching with keen interest, the research ongoing in many countries on nuclear fusion technology for energy use.
“The progress made in this research may appear small, but it is significant in energy generation. The countries involved in this research in nuclear fusion are planning to achieve energy sufficiency in the future,” he said.
According to the minister, a national energy policy and master plan are imperative to guide energy development in a coordinated manner. He added that the policy is important, as it is actively sought after by investors, development partners and scholars who intend to use it for the development of this sector.
“While the National Energy Policy (NEP) provided policies for long-term, coordinated energy development for our energy security in an environmentally sustainable manner and with the active participation of the private sector, the energy master plan provides the roadmap for achieving the policy objectives through activities and programmes with timelines,” he added.
Energy, according to Onu, affects development in all sectors of the economy, such as transportation, health, agriculture, industry, education, security etc.
In his remarks, the minister of state for science, technology and innovation, Barr. Mohammed Abdullahi said that the National Energy Policy articulates the way and manner the government intends to develop the energy sector, as well as provides the general roadmap for the achievement of the policy objectives with timelines.
He further said with this development in the energy and its related sectors, local and international energy commissions will draft out policies to help reduce the impact of COVID-19 on renewable energy and also provide a roadmap for sustainable energy solutions in Nigeria against future domestic and global challenges.
A statement by the ministry’s deputy director, press and public relations unit, Afonja Ajibola, said major stakeholders were present at the workshop and, having gone through the document and made thorough revisions of the document with contributions from professionals in the energy sector, the document was finally accepted by the participants at the workshop for onward approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
