Leadership (Abuja)
Betrand Nwankwo
15 August 2008
Abuja — The problem of gas flaring may be a thing of the past in Nigeria as the Federal Government has set aside $1 billion to address the ugly situation.
Minister of State for Energy (Gas), Dr Emmanuel Odusina, dropped this hint yesterday at a press briefing held in Abuja by the Ministry of Energy (Power).
Answering questions from newsmen, Odusina said the amount would be used to build infrastructure that will prevent gas flaring in Nigeria.
He said that the government is flaring 2.5 million cubic feet of gas per day, saying that the issue of gas flaring must be well tackled once and for all.
The minister, who accompanied the Minister of State for Energy (Power), Mrs. Fatima Ibrahim, to the press briefing, said the issue of gas flaring has been on for many years but there was no appropriate law to back government action towards solving the problem.
He said before the problem is tackled, certain things must be put in place. According to the minister, the problem must not be left for the government alone. He said that all the oil and gas-producing companies in Nigeria, such as Shell, Chevron, Agip, amongst others, must play a role.
To address the problem, he said, certain infrastructure must be put in place.
"And as a matter of fact, in this year's budget, I think about $1 billion has been set aside on short-term basis to put infrastructure to stop gas flaring."
The minister who stated that gas is very vital to Nigeria, stressed that the product is required to develop the nation's industry and power the "power plants" which generate electricity for the nation.
The minister said government was taking a pragmatic approach to tackle the issue, after that Federal Government will then make a pronouncement on the matter.
"We want to take a different approach this time around to end gas flaring and before the end of this year, that in the next few months when they have brought the plan and everything we need to do, then I will announce it. But gas flaring must stop."
On the Independent Power Project (IPP) started by the last administration, Odusina said prior to the commencement of the project, no adequate plan was made on where to get the gas to power the stations.
"There is no infrastructure in place. Because you have to put infrastructure in place and harness the gas and transform the gas to power the plants", he said adding that the gas master plan will address all the problems.
"By the end of next year, we assure the nation, I am saying categorically we should be able to generate 6000 megawatts of electricity through the supply of gas".
Meanwhile, the Federal Government yesterday set up a committee on National Policy on Gas.
Briefing journalists after the National Council of State's meeting chaired by Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, Governor Malam Babangida Aliyu said the council had set up a committee to look into the policy and report back to it before the end of October.
Members of the committee include the governors of Imo, Osun, Rivers, Niger, Kaduna and Yobe States.
The council also directed state governors to liaise with members of their Houses of Assembly to finalise the legal imperative for the deduction of state funds from the excess crude account to fund the country's energy sector.
Aliyu also disclosed that the National Tax Policy was presented to council while members were advised to set up a Debt Management Office in order to ensure that states do not take loans that they might not be able to pay within the period of their tenure.
Other decisions adopted by the NEC were the need to encourage Nigerians in the Diaspora to come home and render much-needed services instead of considering them as lost to foreign lands; as well as encouraging Nigerian youth to engage in voluntary public work to gather enough experience and marketability for higher paid jobs rather than loitering about.
The council also encouraged state governors to peer-review each other; looking at what the others are doing among the governors and sharing information of best practices in terms of good governance.
The governor also revealed that the council directed each state to establish Debt Management Office because this time around, it will not be like in the old days when each state and ministries and others just went about taking loans.
"Many of the states are still indebted with a lot of debt on their portfolios. We said each state should establish debt management unit which will now be linked to DMO at the centre, so that we ensure that debts or loans that are being taken are properly monitored. I remember that the last discussion we had was that every state or governor should be able to take the kind of loans that he should pay within his tenure. But when we have this Debt Management Office, at least we will be able to monitor what is already on the ground and what we are capable of taking."
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