A green energy advocate and President of the Engr.Chief Chukwuemeka Chukwurah Green Energy Foundation (ECCCGEF), Engr. Sir Chris C. Chukwurah, FNSE, FNIM, FNIProcE, has decried the non implementation many important imperatives of her Climate Change Policy.
Engr. Chief Chris Chukwurah, in a paper entitled: “Technoeconomic Imperatives for Carbon Footprint Reduction in Nigeria”, presented at the February 2025 monthly general meeting of the Asaba branch of the Nigeria Society of Engineers, (NSE), noted that many of the noble points collated in the said policy were still work – in – progress after many years former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Climate Change Act
These include 269 inputs and outcomes, as well as over 300 key performance indexes for monitoring carbon footprint reduction, explaining that the carbon credit, carbon market, carbon projects, verifications and pricing were the backbone of the green economy, towards which the world was tending to.
According to him, some countries were already aiming to significantly reduce their carbon footprint and achieve net-zero in less than ten years time, while Nigeria is looking at 2060 to achieve net-zero carbon footprint.
The ECCCGEF President cited some countries in Europe, America and Asia which had put in place serious carbon market mechanisms and were systematically helping their citizens to key in and benefit from exploiting the economic opportunities inherent in the reduction of carbon footprint.
He regretted that though Nigeria had the carbon market mechanisms in her books especially in her Nationally Determined Contributions of Climate Change Policy, little productive actions had been taken due to insufficient awareness and focus, stressing that certain imperatives must be deployed to ensure profitable carbon footprint reduction in the country.
Engr Chief Chris Chukwurah identified the imperatives as skill set, knowledge, know-how, do-how, financial, economic and technological prowess, as well as for productive attempt at producing the transitional equipment that would enable the country enjoy green energy.
He emphasized that Nigeria should be able to manufacture panels for solar systems ,inverters and batteries, adding that investors should be encouraged to venture into those areas in order to bring down the prices of renewable energy equipment.
The ECCCGEF boss highlighted the need for the country to partner with Carbon Engineering Company in USA to develop and use Direct Air Capture (DAC) and Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) machines to enhance her technological and engineering approach in addressing Climate Change.
Engr. Chukwurah called on the state government to activate it renewable energy policy for implementation, insisting that there was no reason why there should not be solar – powered taxis, buses and Keke, considering the availability of raw materials, like silicone, lithium, among others, in some parts of Nigeria.
The green energy crusader and the Osowa Owelle of Asaba stated and discussed the imperatives, emphasising that they require serious political, technological and financial will and discipline for the government to come to terms with them and do the needful.
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