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.
The Minister made this known at the validation workshop of the draft revised national energy policy and its related master plan in Abuja at the beginning of the week.
Dr. Onu said Nigeria is watching with keen interest, the research ongoing in many countries on nuclear fusion technology for energy use. In his words, “The progress made in this research may appear small, but it is very significant and important in energy generation. The countries involved in this research in nuclear fusion, are planning to achieve energy sufficiency in the future”
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.
He said “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 active participation of the private sector, the energy master plan provides the roadmap for achieving the policy objectives through activities and programmes with timelines”
Energy, according to Dr. Onu, affects development in all sectors of the economy, such as transportation, health, agriculture, industry, education, security etc.
The Minister of state for Science, Technology and Innovation, Barrister Mohammed Abdullahi said that the National Energy Policy is a policy, which articulates the way and manner the government intends to develop its energy sector, adding that it 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.
Back to the business of the day, the major stakeholders invited at the workshop 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.