By Obiabin Onukwugha
A Professor of of Environmental Planning and Management, Professor Nasiru Idris, has stated that Nigeria can use greener technology to reduce gas flaring as part of solution to climate change, while noting that it will be difficult for Nigeria to end gas flaring as an oil producing country.
Idris, who is the Director, Ibrahim Usman Jibril Institute for the Built Environment, Nasarawa State University, made the submissions in an interview with Naturenews correspondent recently.
He said: “I think what the president had said even during his campaign, we have to develop Nigeria in so many ways but there are certain measures that we need to take. So I am of the opinion that we should use the greener technology but not to stop gas flaring immediately.”
According to him, countries such as the United States of America, China and Russia were still flaring gas and it will be counter productive to the Nigerian economy if the country stops flaring gas.
“You cannot just stop it like this. For example, in terms of infrastructural development, the so-called developed countries have used these black oil to develop their nations and you dont expect the Nigerian government to stock those resources that are at hand; that we should stop using it so that we cannot develop.”
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Prof Idris continued: “Let me clarify these things. There is what is called ANNEX One party and the developing countries. ANNEX One parties are the developed countries, the nations that normally release these funds. For example, even the so-called developed countries, not all of them have stopped gas flaring.
“If you look at United States of America, one of the major polluters, even them, they never discharge their gases in the traditional way.
“Even the BRICS countries, China is one of the emerging economies. They have technology yet have not stopped gas flaring. United States of America is a developed country, go to Texas they have not stopped gas flaring. Russia is a developed country, they have not stopped gas flaring so how do you expect developing countries like Nigeria to stop gas flaring.”
The environmentalist stressed the need for the Nigerian government to use monies paid as tradable permit by the oil multinationals to develop the Nigerian economy, especially the Niger Delta region where the oil is being produced.
“There is what is called tradable permit. There is a particular fund that is supposed to be released. They are supposed to use clean energy in order to minimize the gas flaring but we are used to flare gas one hundred percent. I don’t think it is possible.
“You can use greener technology to minimize and by gradual approach, you can give a time frame, for example, twenty to thirty years, then you can reduce the rate at which you flare your gasses into the atmosphere.
“So if you do that, at least there are certain remedies, there are certain things that you can do to compensate gas flaring that those multinationals are doing”, he added.
