Kola Adesina, Group Managing Director of Sahara Power Group has decried the insufficient energy supply in Nigeria amid the growing population.
According to him, “The quantum of energy in the system today is absolutely insufficient for our population.
Adesina noted this in Abuja after being conferred as an Honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) during the 2022 National Engineering Conference.
“Our population is growing phenomenally, whereas the infrastructure that needs to deliver the key services to serve as the engine to grow the GDP is lagging behind,” he said.
He further said that the alignment of value chains in the nation’s power sector will improve the quality of its services.
“It is a value chain for a reason. An engineer is a problem solver. He is somebody that sees a problem and finds a solution to it.
“All the needs in that value chain must be available from day one. That’s the only way you can ensure that they still supply anywhere in the world.”
For him, the solution to energy shortage would be to ensure effective usage of natural resources to generate electricity appropriately and optimally.
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“The moment we can get the gas issue resolved, that moment we can get generations into locations where there off-taker and transmission facilities,” he said.
Delivering his opening speech, President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration is working to deliver better governance at a reduced cost to Nigerians through digital technologies.
President Buhari who was represented by the minister of science, technology and innovation, Adeleke Mamora, noted that Nigeria’s digital economy is the fastest growing sector in the nation’s economy and the only sector that grew by double digits at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the sector have developed national policies in the areas of developmental regulations, infrastructure, digital skills, indigenous content development among others.
“In a bid to achieve the goal of digitalization of Nigeria, I launched and unveiled the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), National Broadband Plan 2020-2025, among others.
“The theme of this conference reflects the yearning of the Federal Government’s drive towards digitizing the country’s economy using modern technology, and in making our country rank among the most advanced in the world in the communications sector.
“Nigeria’s digital economy has been noted by the international community, eliciting recognition from the international stakeholders including the appointment of Nigeria to chair some highly regarded forums. The current industry statistics is proof that Nigeria is achieving her goals of digitization of its economy,” he said.
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