How renewable energy will develop north - Expert

A Nigerian entrepreneur, Babatunde Morakinyo, has identified renewable energy as the key to tackling the poverty currently ravaging the northern part of Nigeria.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the chairman of Stomberg Power Limited noted that there was urgent need to start getting 87 per cent of poor Nigerians who are in the North out of poverty.

He recalled that that a World Bank report estimated that 87 per cent of poor Nigerians live in the North and a large number of those being in the North-West.

He stressed that northern Nigeria constituted a larger part of the entire nation and thus it was impossible to fix the nation’s economy without lifting the vast majority of poor Nigerians in the north out of poverty.

According to him, deploying solar energy to grow businesses in the region would be very easy and the north was already abundantly blessed with adequate sunshine to power it.

While taking cognisance of the ongoing battle against insurgency, he pointed out that it was also pertinent to strive to grow the economy simultaneously "so that the economy would be booming by the time the war is completely won".

Morankinyo added that deploying renewable energy to grow the region would also positively engage the youths and prevent them from engaging in acts that destroy the economy they are benefitting from.

“The import of this World Bank data is that Nigeria as a country has a long way to go in achieving sustainable development.

“It should be taken into cognisance that the north is the larger of the two regions in the country and without fixing the north, we can’t fix Nigeria.

“Poverty in the north can be totally eradicated through harnessing the huge potentials presented by the abundance of solar energy in the region.

“While security agencies battles insurgency, economic development must go on at the same time in a bid to engage citizens productively.

“As a professional in the renewable energy sector, the north is well positioned to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development through investment in renewable energy,” he said.

He disclosed that he has had "first-hand experience" of how renewable energy had improved the quality of lives of people, adding that his company had provided such facilities in some parts of the country.