SANWO-OLU IN LONDON, SAYS TRANSITION PROCESS MOST CRITICAL IN ADVANCING ENERGY SECURITY
- Lagos will host Climate Action Week in September- Governor
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has described the energy transition process in Nigeria as the most critical phase in the country’s drive toward advancing energy security.
He said the recent unbundling of the energy sector, which has given sub-national governments powers to generate and distribute, will help in no small measure to mitigate the effects of energy crises currently experienced by citizens.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spoke on Tuesday during the Under2 States and Regions Dialogue at the ongoing London Climate Summit, titled “Advancing Energy Security in a volatile world,” organised by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Under2 Coalition in London.
The Governor said his administration is fully committed to addressing energy crises through heavy investment in the energy sector. He therefore sought collaboration and partnership that will boost power generation and distribution at the state level.
He said: “I am from a country where I run a state that is close to 25 million people, and up until very recently, everything regarding power from generation to distribution-the whole spectrum, was nationally controlled until last year that the power sector opened up in our country, and now the states can participate from the whole spectrum of generation to distribution.
“We are actively changing the narrative around energy sufficiency, and almost 45 percent of what is generated in the country gets past my state, so it is huge. We are doing a lot of great things.
“We are designing models where we can do small, mini-grids, and we can manage and feed smaller communities. And that has increased and improved access to power. People who were not having more than 12 hours of electricity before now enjoy it for 20 to 21 hours, which is a huge improvement and has improved their economic power.”
Speaking further, Governor Sanwo-Olu said his administration, in the past one year, has installed over 45,000 solar street lights and street poles in different parts of Lagos.
He said: “There is a whole lot of interest that we are pushing on, especially in renewables. Statistics show that 60 percent of the solar needs and capabilities are in Africa, 30 percent of the minerals are in Africa and 25 percent of the population is there.
“If we need to be successful in whatever conversation in real transition and wanting to be a global conversation, I feel it has to be Africa.
“I am putting the case forward that all of us won’t have an individual needs, but if only two want to be at scale and at relevance, we need to go to places where they have been underserved.”
In a related development, Governor Sanwo-Olu, during an engagement with some critical stakeholders in London, announced the commitment of the Lagos State Government to host Climate Action Week in Lagos in September.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said hosting the Climate Action Week in Lagos will provide an opportunity for different nations and the world to see the tangible projects his administration has done so far.
He said: “We have done a lot of tangible projects, and people need to come down to Lagos and see things for themselves. It is not what you have on YouTube. The brands are ready. The opportunities are there, and we are ready to engage. We have the capacity.
“We are making a commitment to set up a date in September or October when we are going to have our own Climate Action Week, where we are expecting nations and the world to come and see what we are doing not only in Lagos but also in the whole sub-Saharan region of Africa. We are using Lagos as a test case. We are committed to hosting the Climate Action Week, and we will do it.
SIGNED
GBOYEGA AKOSILE
SPECIAL ADVISER – MEDIA AND PUBLICITY
