By Vera Chinonso Aliyu, YeyeNews.com, November 9, 2021
The Federal government has justified President Buhari’s presence at the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow tagged COP26, saying that Nigeria wanted to seek the help of China to cut down on her greenhouse gas emissions. “President Buhari went to COP26 so he can discuss with Xi Jinping on how China can assist in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions”, the Minister of Environment told journalists at the State House.
“Njgeria’s contribution to global warming has increased significantly due to the increase in number of industries that the President Buhari administration has provided. But we have realized the need to reduce emissions and adopt more eco-friendly technologies for the sake of future generations. Since China has gone through that path, the president decided to seek their help during the COP26. But unfortunately China did not see the need to attend because it has been able to achieve an almost zero emissions level. But Nigeria is still from the mark so our presence is essential’, the minister argued.
The Minister further revealed that the government will soon send a bill to the National Assembly seeking to place heavy fines on users of generators in the country. “President Buhari has directed that a bill to regulate use of generators in the country should be sent to the National Assembly for quick passage in line with the commitment he made to other world leaders at Glasgow. The bill will stipulate a fine of between N25,000 per month for the smallest generators to about N500,000 per month for the biggest ones. This will encourage Nigerians to embrace cleaner options like solar and wind power technologies. We must embrace these cleaner energy technologies until when the country will be able to generate constant electricity for everyone”.
But Nigerians have continued to remind the president that attending the Climate Change Conference should not be the country’s priority. “Those conferences are for nations that have solved the basic problems for their people. Finding solutions to the numerous challenges of the country should be the only concern of the president. I don’t understand how climate change will help do that”, a resident of Abuja told YeyeNews.com reporter.
A tailor in Wuse told YeyeNews.com reporter that the plan to fine generator users in the country will be counter productive. “The green technologies they want us to use are not cheap. Artisans like us can’t afford them. If we have stable electricity nobody will be using a generator. That is what the government should focus on achieving”.
