By MUSA AHMED TIJANI
U13MM1184
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2017 shows that agric imports now below exports. That implies that the economic diversification of President Buhari’s administration to agriculture is yielding positively.
However, electricity remains the bane hindering the growth of industrialisation and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. Not only that, Nigeria has the largest population in Africa but only about 40% of the people are connected to electricity. The lack of sufficient and efficient supply of power has killed and is killing many industries in Nigeria while many companies such as Dunlop Nigeria Plc, Michelin, Prilleri, Patterson Zochonis (PZ) have either relocated or shifted their larger factories to Ghana which is reported to have investment incentives majorly constant power supply.
Industries and companies are resorting to alternative means to electricity by making use of diesel and generator which leads to high cost of production. By implication, the crippled industries that can no longer afford workers remunerations retrench their workers which further deepens the woes of unemployment rate already hitting on the causes of social vices and crimes in our society. In the same vein, the lack of sufficient power supply in Nigeria has dettered the interest of foreign investors to invest in Nigeria.
However, Nigeria is rich in natural resources which will create billions of dollars of revenue and alternative forms of hyrdo-energy but these resources are not being harnessed perhaps because of availability of oil which price has fallen drastically at the international market and has led Nigeria to economic recession.
Nigeria uses hydro-electricity which is insufficient grid to satisfy its increasing needs. Hydro-electricity source of energy is the use of water force in water dams to rotate the turbine blades which generates electricity.
Nigeria is a land of unquantifiable natural blessings and of course with alternative means to hydro-electricity. These alternatives include coal, solar and uranium.
Coal is a composition of carbons and hydrocarbons that can be used to produce energy both in the form of heat and electricity and a large deposit of it is found in Enugu State, among other states in Nigeria. While solar electricity is the conversion of energy from the sunlight into into electricity either directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using concentrated solar power or a combination.
Uranium has been discovered in Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau and Rross River states of Nigeria by the British Geological Survey. Uranium is a very important element that provides nuclear fuel for generating electricity with the use of Nuclear Power Stations. It also provides materials for making synthetic transuranium elements. Uranium is also used by the military to design nuclear weapons.
Iran is known for its extensive use of uranium imported from South Africa to establish its nuclear program since 2004. Iran uses its nuclear energy underground to generate electricity and further transacts nuclear energy with neigbouring countries. Let Iran be the source of engineering techniques to develop Nigerian nuclear energy station.
Nigerian government should synergise with Iranian government to help in the technical know-how for Nigerian engineers on the technology of nuclear energy. Thereafter, Nigeria must also revitalize its exploration and mining industry, establish uranium conversion plant with nuclear power reactors industry and establish international safeguards from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for peaceful use of nuclear technology. There should be enabling government policies for foreign and local investors of nuclear energy. Also, nuclear energy should be added to Nigerian universities curriculum as a separate engineering course of study equipped with appropriate facilities. Finally, let mining and agriculture be prioritized equally and this can be achieved in Nigeria with high political-will towards industrialisation.
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