Invest More on Renewable Energy for Cleaner Environment, FG Urged

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

To ensure a cleaner Niger Delta environment, the federal government has been advised to invest more in renewable energy, where there will be no need for fossil fuel and its negative effect on the environment.

The Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Nnimmo Bassey, gave the advice yesterday in a media interview at an event held at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with the theme: ‘2022 Right Livelihood College Lecture: Environment, War and Global Energy System’.

Bassey said the theme of the programme was appropriate because of the close connection between the state of environment as well as the society.

Speaking on the recent inauguration of oil exploration and exploitation in the northern part of Nigeria, the renowned environmentalist stated that oil need not be drilled more anywhere in the country or in Africa, adding that a whole lot of resources extracting from Africa is meant for exports.

According to him, “The Niger Delta environment will have rest from pollution if the Nigerian Government begins to invest more in renewable energy, where we don’t need to buy petrol, diesel or kerosene, but we just use natural resources like sun, or the wind or the heat in the air or the waves of the ocean. This is where we should invest our resources, and that is the future of energy in the world.

“So all we do is to punish ourselves as we destroy our environment and our livelihood just because we want to meet another person’s appetite for fossil fuel resources. If oil is found in commercial quality in the northern Nigeria, as they begin to drill the oil, definitely the environment will be polluted and they will start facing environmental health and livelihood challenges like seen in the Niger Delta region.

“We don’t want anyone else or region to suffer environmental degradation like we are suffering in the Niger Delta.”

Also, Prof Fidelis Allen, coordinator for the Rights Livelihood College, said the lecture was crucial as it meant to think about problems of extreme violence and how it contributes to other problems, especially energy, insecurity and environmental problems linking to climate change.

Allen explained that: “In recent times, we have seen how the threat of war in the world has increased, and we are familiar with what is happening between Ukraine and Russia, and how the conflict is contributing to energy insecurity across the world.

“We are here today as part of the university culture to engage in this issue and provide that platform for students and colleagues to talk about these problems and suggest ways in dealing with them at the sub-national and international level.”