Ugo:
I have been asking my friends why Nigerian Universities have not made the transition to solar energy. As an undergraduate at Ife, we were almost always never affected by the power failure perhaps because we were on a separate "priority” grid and also had functioning standby generators adequate for our population. A nation cannot run its business on generators. Since hydropower really never worked for us, and as the technology for converting solar energy becomes more and more available, it would make sense for institutions such as Universities to lead the way in energy independence. Government institutions can follow; businesses know reliance on diesel is unreliable: it is in the final analysis unsustainable in the long term. In fact the running cost after a while will become more expensive than solar energy, which’s cost is mostly front loaded. All these over time will leave hydropower largely for domestic use. There is no mystery to energy independence. The technology for generating electrical power is now one of the oldest in human civilization. It must be decentralized and diversified. All we need is serious-minded people!
On 6/22/15, 2:14 PM, "Ugo Nwokeji" <ugo@berkeley.edu> wrote:
Your spot-on, Bode. And it will cost less money and is a simpler technology, apart from being clean. I really don't know whose idea it is. It was initially raised early in the Obasanjo administration, but I never heard anything of it -- and I was pleased. Hearing now what seems like work seems to have been on and work under is absolutely horrifying. Apart everything else, Nigeria is about the worst country in the world to be confronted with a Fukushima or Chernobyl moment!
Ugo
G. Ugo Nwokeji
Director, Center for African Studies
Associate Professor of African American Studies
University of California, Berkeley
686 Barrows Hall #2572
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel. (510) 542-8140
Fax (510) 642-0318
University of California, Berkeley
686 Barrows Hall #2572
Berkeley, CA 94720
Tel. (510) 542-8140
Fax (510) 642-0318
Twitter: @UgoNwokeji
Facebook: facebook.com/ugo.nwokeji
On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 8:18 AM, Bode <ominira@gmail.com> wrote:
Thanks Ugo. You would think they would try solar first given the abundance of solar energy to be harvested in that tropical climate. By the way, a few businesses and individuals have been harnessing solar technology for sometime now, which is by far safer. Why not consolidate those efforts into a national program? It just goes to show they are not quite serious yet.BodeOn 6/22/15, 1:40 AM, "Ugo Nwokeji" <ugo@berkeley.edu> wrote:--This sounds like a badly conceived joke? Here is my reaction to this news (below) in another forum:"We we don't have any technological achievement of major significance to our name; we just don't currently have the technical base to embark on such a venture at this stage. We have made an absolute mess of the steel plants that have gulped tens of billions of dollars in nearly 40 years. We have not even demonstrated a capacity to tap and harness our God-given petroleum resources (foreigners are still responsible for the much of the technical capacity in the critical oil gas industry), to run our refineries or to generate electricity for our people and business. We have not invested in solar (despite our abundant sun!), wind and other clean fuels, which are the future.How does anybody now think that nuclear power will solve our problems, that in spite of these failures and glaring lack of capacity we can somehow get this much more sophisticated and immensely dangerous venture right?I do not vent or criticize for the mere sake of it. It is a responsibility to speak up when your seems to jump into a fire. I want us to soar to the heights, but we can only get there carefully and in an orderly fashion. But this whole sounds like April Fool. Are we now to use our scarce resources in a venture that our track record and capacity predict certain failure and danger? It has misplacement of priorities written all over it.I hope the Buhari administration will put a halt to this white elephant venture of the most macabre type.Ugo"The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has conducted drills to deal with nuclear disaster that may arise in the country.The NSCDC said Saturday training of officers of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Unit, a specialised unit of the corps, had since begun.
“The specialised unit, established to tackle emergency situations related to chemical poisoning and nuclear explosions, has also carried out a simulation exercise as part of its operational strategy,” the corps said in a statement.
The statement, signed by spokesperson Emmanuel Okeh, said simulation exercise was carried out in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nigeria Nuclear and Regulatory Agency.
He said that the theme of simulation, “Transportation accident involving a radioactive source’’, was meant to prepare officials, especially as Nigeria gears towards the use of nuclear plants to generate electricity.
“The Commandant-General of the Corps, Dr Ade Abolurin, has also stressed the importance of the unit, and called for awareness on the destructive tendencies of nuclear energy if not well managed,” he said.
“We are also doing a lot to sensitise the public on the different dimensions of crime, which now involves the use of chemicals, bombs and other dangerous substances,” the statement added
He quoted, Pablo Jerez of the IAEA, as pledging the support of the agency to the NSCDC, especially as regards provision of operational tools and equipment.
“We are also ready to partner with relevant stakeholders so as to be able to prevent and tackle any form of chemical, radiological and nuclear disaster in the country,” he said.
(NAN)G. Ugo Nwokeji
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