Stories by Medinat Kanabe
Poor standards remain the bane of the nation’s socioeconomic development, John Funsho Adebayo, an engineer has said.
Adebayo, who is the National Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, gave this insight at the 2019 World Standard Day workshop themed ‘Prospects of Regulations in a Digital Era.’
The workshop, which held in Uyo Akwa-Ibom state, drew participants including members from all over the country as well as experts from various walks of life.
While noting that the WSD aims at raising awareness among regulators, industry and consumers on the importance of standardisation to national and global economy, the NIEEE boss said its members have been deeply involved in the standardisation processes of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
On his part, Chairman, Ibom Power Limited, Engr Etido Inyang said this year’s conference coincides with a time of declining grid-connected power generation (average of 3,600MW over the past three months) and increasing net cost of power in Nigeria.
“We must overcome this challenge and provide access to electricity to the 100 million Nigerians, about 60% of our population, that are currently deprived of this service. Nigeria’s estimated power demand is 20,000MW,” he said.
He added that in order to address the deficit in power availability estimated at about 16,000MW, government has to ensure that electricity tariff is cost-reflective; in order for not only costs to be recovered but also to guarantee reasonable Return on Investment.
“While striving to provide access to electricity for all, Nigeria needs to develop a diversified energy mix. This requires diversification from natural-gas-to-power to renewable energy developments. Presently, natural gas accounts for about 85% of grid-connected power generation; the remaining 15% is from hydro-electricity. Energy mix diversification is essential towards the realisation of Nigeria’s lofty target of Vision 30:30:30 objective of 30,000MW by 2030,” he noted.
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