Coal exploitation: Analyst wants Nigeria to exit Kyoto protocols, climate change agreements

Mr Ambrose Igboke, a Public Affairs Analyst, has advised the Federal Government to exit Kyoto protocols and other agreements on climate change to enable Nigeria harness its coal resources.

Igboke gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that aimed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the presence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The essential tenet of the Kyoto Protocol was that industrialised nations needed to lessen the amount of their CO2 emissions.

According to him, Coal is a natural solid mineral that has multi-dimensional unity value.

“When processed it can be used to produce electricity, power our homes and industries for fuel in production of bitumen and many more.

“To commercially exploit our coal resources, Nigeria must exit all multilateral agreements on carbon emissions,” he said.

He stressed that Nigeria needed to exit the Kyoto protocols and all other agreements on climate change.

“This will enable us put our coal resources into use by mining, processing and even exploiting our coal resources,” he said.

Igboke said the Coal deposit in Nigeria could create millions of jobs in the entire value chain from mining to processing and marketing.

He lamented that Nigeria has abandoned her coal to please Europe and America in the name of climate change protocols and agreements.

“It is time to reverse this ugly trend. Western countries use carbon emission and still using carbon to build their industries and sustain their economies.

“If we exit we can use our God given coal to produce our electricity, to fire our plants, to produce bitumen that we use for construction of road and others,” he said.

The analyst further recommended policy formulation and implementation that involved modern training on coal exploitation, coal mining, and coal processing and usage.

Igboke also said there should be policies that protect citizens, especially coal miners, from hazards of coal mining.

According to him, coal mining hazard. is a very dangerous hazard and has been a very big issue in the country.

Besides, he called for collaborative efforts of government and private sector to develop commercially viable technology pathway to zero emissions in a carbon constrain world.