A former Minister of Power and the Founder/Chairman of Geometric Power Limited, Professor Barth Nnaji, will headline the Symposium on Energy Transition holding at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja on Friday, May 24, 2024.
Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shettima GCON is expected to be the Special Guest of Honour.
According to Paddy Ezeala, Publisher of Development Agenda, the Symposium with the theme: “Energy Transition in an Oil-dependent Economy” will have Professor Nnaji as the keynote speaker alongside Professor Kayode Soremekun and Professor Chukwumerije Okereke.
The event, which promises to be an intellectual harvest, will also feature a vast array of discussants.
This all-important event being put together and hosted by Development Agenda Magazine is geared towards the sensitization of the general public and the government on the global urgency that is this energy transition and the need for a compass of social equity in its navigation.
Ezeala said: “The global energy transition is a journey that spans over three decades. It is a movement towards jettisoning fossil fuels including oil, natural gas and coal for cleaner energy options like wind and solar as well as lithium-ion batteries. This is seen globally as an essential climate action aimed at reducing global temperatures and thereby mitigating the effects of climate change.
“This symposium provides a great opportunity for stakeholders to evaluate Nigeria’s contributions in this regard and proffering ways of supporting government, corporate and individual actions towards a socially equitable energy transition. This transition has more profound implications for Nigeria as we are not only facing the consequences of climate change but are still largely a monocultural oil-dependent economy even when we are among the countries with the least emissions of carbon dioxide in the world.
“It is against this background that we will be witnessing an intellectual dissection of our energy poverty, green growth and our individual and collective efforts towards energy competitiveness and cleanliness.”
Nnaji is a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, an innovator and one of the inventors of the E-Design Concept. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at St. John’s University and proceeded to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for post-graduate studies. He is the founder of the first indigenous power generating company in Nigeria and also a former Minister of Power.
Soremekun is a Nigerian academic, author and the third vice chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State. He attended the University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo University where he obtained B.A. English/History and M.Sc. and Ph.D. in International Relations. The Ph.D. was on Nigeria’s Petroleum Policy and International Relations. He is an internationally renowned energy expert.
Okereke is a renowned climate and development scholar. He is a Professor of Global Climate Governance and Public Policy at University of Bristol, UK and also the Director of the Centre of Climate Change and Development at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. He is also a visiting professor at Oxford University, United Kingdom.
Development Agenda Magazine is a development-oriented quarterly publication in English and French, both online and in print, dedicated to promoting development issues in West Africa. It aims, among others, to promote positive action, especially on the part of duty bearers in the various countries in the region. The magazine features issues of the economy, social security, environment, infrastructure, water and sanitation, education, health and the environment. The publication lays special emphasis on issues of natural resources conservation and climate change.
This symposium is the second in a series of seminars, conferences and symposia lined up by the magazine to sensitize the general public on critical issues of development and provide the necessary backstopping to relevant government officials and institutions.
Special guests expected at the event also include the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti; Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Uba Sani; Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni; Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo and the Minister of State, Environment and Ecological Management, Dr Ishaq Kunle Salako.
The symposium will also have in attendance select students from various Nigerian universities, representatives of non-governmental organizations, international development organizations, diplomats, academics and women organizations.
