174 million lack access to cooking gas in Nigeria-FG
About 174 million people in Nigeria lack access to the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, the Federal Government stated on Thursday.
It said it was because of the high level of energy poverty in Nigeria, stressing that the promoters of global energy transition must adequately consider factors such as energy security and economic development.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, disclosed this in Abuja at the 2022 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum, with the theme, “Global Energy Transition: Implications on Future Investments in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry”.
He said, “As we all know, Nigeria is still bedeviled with energy poverty, Nigeria currently has one of the highest ates of energy poverty in the world.
“Some estimates out it that only about 55 per cent of over 200 million people in Nigeria have access to electricity, while obly 13 per cent have access to clean cooking”.
Going by the minister’s statement, 13 per cent translates to 26 million, hence, about 174 million people across the country lack access to LPG.
Sylva, who was represented by the Permanent Secratary, federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Sani Gwarzo, stated that Nigeria’s goal should be energy sufficiency, in order to ensure energy security and end the ravaging energy poverty across the country.
He argued that it was misleading to equate energy transition to getting rid of fossil fuels.
“It is actually malicious to give fossil fuels a bad name after most countries have ridden on the backs of the same fossil to develop socially and economically”, the minister stated.
He added, “Energy transition is about providing clean energy and not about discriminating between energy sources.
“In the face of the current high level of energy poverty worldwide, all energy sources will be required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on energy”.
