By Gilbert Alasa
Somewhere on the northeast of Mombasa in Kenya is the Lamu Island oozing incredible calm. There are no vehicles in this port city of about 140,000 people; camels provide the only means of transport.
With an origin that dates as far back as the 12th century, this county has held on to its old charm. Intricate wood carvings, coral stone houses and rooftop patios dot the city in defiance to modernization.
But that long-preserved charm met a major threat in 2018 following an ambitions 1000-mega watt coal power project by Kenyan authorities in conjunction with a consortium of Chinese firms. And it didn’t take long for the knives to be out. A coalition of civil society groups, worried by the potential risks posed by the project, marched in protest.
On Monday June 26, 2018, judges at the National Environmental Tribunal held that the authorities had failed to carry out a statutory environmental impact assessment for the project. The project was cancelled, and laid to rest the argument by the Kenyan government that coal would allow the East African nation meet its growing energy needs.
In Nigeria, the story is not the same. When the former Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, announced that coal would account for about 30% of the nation’s energy generation in 2017, he drew applause from a wide section of the populace.
Not long after, a private firm, Eta-Zuma Group West Africa Limited, announced an investment outlay of $6bn to boost Nigeria’s power generation through coal. Its chairman, Dr. Innocent Ezuma, said the company was mining about 50,000 metric tonnes of coal each month. But experts say the dependence on coal would haunt Nigeria.
“Ignorance is the problem,” says Dr Victor Fodeke, who was formerly an advisor for Climate Change at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“There’s so much we can get from hydropower (alone). There are about 300 untapped rivers in Nigeria that can be hooked on for hydro-electricity. The amount of solar radiation is very high in Nigeria, especially in the northern part of the country.”
Fodeke, who also runs a sustainable energy firm that powers Africa’s first smart green city in Ogun State, believes the scramble for coal energy in Nigeria is a misplaced priority.
“We can convert the whole of the desert to generate electricity to power the whole of West Africa, just as we have it in Morocco,” he added.
Energy efficiency is the new normal
In November 2014, the G20 Energy Efficiency Action Plan was adopted by member countries as a practical model that allows members strengthen their energy efficiency. Not only does the plan emphasize energy security, it also underlines voluntary collaboration in a manner that best supports members’ domestic priorities.
Two years after, that framework bore fruit; energy efficiency became a major priority for the 20 economies that make up the G20. But in Nigeria, energy efficiency is yet to form a key element of her national policies; reliance on dirty energy still holds sway.
“Coal is a cheaper energy source,” says Desmond Majekodunmi who serves on the governing council of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation based in Lagos.
“But it is the dirtiest of all fossil fuels,” he says. “We are in a crisis mode (climate crisis) and we need to learn from the Lamu people. We have to forget our abundant coal,” he warns.
“We need to persuade the government to forget coal.”
“If the G7 countries, which are far more developed than us, could deem it fit to have prioritised energy security and efficiency, it is only wise for Nigeria to adopt same – both as a priority and as an emergency.
“If we prioritize energy efficiency, we would not need to build these power stations right now. The 4,000 megawatt of electricity we have now can translate to 20,000 megawatt if we adopt energy efficiency and energy-saving strategies.
Nigerian Civil Societies: A Dormant Lot?
There’s a question most observers of the Lamu debacle have asked, how did a small community like Lamu defeat the Kenyan authorities alongside their Chinese partners? The answer is simple and complex at the same time.
Simple because it took about 10 civil society groups under the banner of deCOALanize Lamu campaign to wage and win the war. A lone group, perhaps, would have achieved little or nothing.
On the other hand, the answer is complex because most players in the Nigerian civil society space rarely see collaboration as the new normal.
“Collaboration is still a problem here,” says Comfort Onyaga, Founder and Executive Director of CLICE Foundation.
“Everyone seems to be working in silos. And personal interest is the major problem. Each group wants to be seen as pushing an agenda, and getting the recognition; it’s not necessarily because they are passionate about seeing change happen.”
Comfort, whose organisation recently worked with the National Commission for Refugee, Migrant and Internally Displaced Persons, said activism thrives best when organisations collaborate.
“Collaboration among players in the social development space may not be at the ideal level now,” says Chidinma Ejike, “but groups are beginning to see the need and are reaching out to others to form that collaboration.”
Chidinma, who works as Programme Officer, Environment and Climate Change at Clean Technology Hub, believes with advocacy, things are not always the way they seem.
“Advocacy is already ongoing for a number of issues here in Nigeria, for instance on the issue of GMOs, but sometimes these issues are not straightforward,” she says.
“The concern, however, for most people on advocacy is their safety when they collaborate to speak out so they would rather just keep mute or lament to their friends.”
It’s not the big that eats the small
Kenya is not a close rival to Nigeria in terms of economic size, but Nigeria has a lot to learn from this Caribbean beauty, especially when the conversation shifts to climate change.
“Nigeria has no business with coal,” says Fodeke. “
Unless the nation takes drastic measures to address its energy challenges, Nigeria could end up as one of the biggest losers in the ongoing climate crisis.
“The only problem in Nigeria is that we waste our wastes,” laments Fodeke. “Look at Abuja. About 47 percent of wastes in that city is biodegradable, and enough to generate about 7 megawatt of electricity to make Abuja a model of excellence in sustainable energy.”
In November 2018, Kenya announced a grand plan to transition to green energy by 2020 as part of larger measures to combat climate change.
Its President, Kenyatta Uhuru, had said 70% of its installed power capacity is renewable. In Nigeria, the journey is still dark and long. Its 2006 Renewable Energy Master Plan envisages a meager 10% of total energy consumption by 2025. This is not one to cheer about.
Yet, the impact of crude production in the oil-rich Niger Delta alone is enough evidence that fossil fuels are not efficient solutions to the nation’s energy needs. As seen in Lamu, progress rolls more swiftly with collaboration. It is not exactly clear whether the government sees the danger ahead.
To paraphrase English writer Jerry Archer, who will tell the government?
