The Federal Government on Thursday, 23 August, 2024 unveiled the Conversion Incentive Programme for Compressed Natural Gas in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
The initiative is designed to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal and promote a safer, cleaner, and more reliable transportation future for Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer and Programme Director of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Oluwagbemi, stated that the initiative aims to fulfill one of the key objectives of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Oluwagbemi emphasised the importance of Nigerians fully embracing the initiative, noting that the adoption of CNG could herald a revolution in the country.
“The President urged Nigerians not to doubt the initiative but to allow the nation to leverage its resources.”
He lamented that the country has been reliant on imported and subsidised petroleum products, thereby placing its destiny, growth, and economy in the hands of foreign nations.
“Nigeria has continued to pay for expensive PMS and diesel, which are not only detrimental to our health but also to our finances. The better alternative is to utilise what we have, which is cleaner, cheaper, safer, and more reliable.”
“This natural gas is abundant across the nation, with 30 out of 36 states in Nigeria having natural gas reserves. We have enough gas reserves to last us for over 100 years, making us one of the largest gas reserve nations in the world and the leading one in Africa.”
“And to convert this gas for use in transportation, fuelling generators, or powering our industries, is far simpler than building a refinery.”
He compared the CNG option to the Dangote refinery, which processes about 650,000 barrels per day, equivalent to about 100 million litres of petrol daily, enough to power approximately 36 million vehicles. However, he pointed out that converting vehicles to CNG would not require the same scale of infrastructure, making petrol both costly and space-consuming.
“With all these natural blessings, why would Nigerians live beside the ocean and wash their hands with spit? Why would we have these abundant gas resources, which are easier to produce, cheaper for our pockets, cleaner for our environment, and safer, and not make good use of them?”
“In the event of a petrol tanker accident, nine out of ten incidents result in an explosion, but with CNG, only one out of ten does. CNG is eight times less explosive than diesel and 18 times less explosive than petrol.”
Source: The Punch online
