Legal icon Aare Afe Babalola has called for massive investment in the production and use of Green Hydrogen for the global economic development of the people.
The founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) also criticised the country’s exclusion of private universities from accessing Tetfund funds, student loans, and research funding.
This is just as the Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said Nigeria has the potential, resources, and international support to become a global leader in green hydrogen production.
They spoke in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital, at the 2024 International Hydrogen Summit with the theme: “Catalyzing Green Hydrogen Development in Nigeria – The Capacity and Partnership Imperative.”
Babalola said, “There is no doubt that the International Hydrogen Summit is crucial to the development of Green Hydrogen. The inhabitants of planet earth still have a lot to do to make use of green hydrogen for the use of man to develop the economy, education and the health of the inhabitants”.
Speaking further on university funding, the elder statesman said, “TETFund was established by the Federal Government. TeTfund source of funds is money collected from private organisations. We all know that private universities are precluded from accessing funds from TETFund. Why? Again, students from private universities are precluded from the Students Loan Scheme. Are they not Nigerians? Public universities get money for research from FG, but nothing goes to private universities. ABUAD has achieved more in research, yet it has not benefited from the government in this regard”.
Salako, represented by Dr Zachariah Buba Yaduma, added that Green hydrogen is an energy solution and a pathway to a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future for all Nigerians.
It offers a way to solve our perennial energy crisis while creating jobs and growing our economy.
The minister stated that with 45 per cent of the population of Nigeria lacking access to the national electricity grid and more than 50 per cent of our household’s energy-poor, green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy from abundant resources such as solar and wind, offers a significant opportunity for Nigeria to not only diversify its energy supply but also lead in the global decarbonisation effort.
“Government is willing to unlock energy and natural resources for sustainable development and create the enabling environment to ensure that this clean energy source becomes a significant part of our energy mix, driving job creation, poverty eradication, economic growth and environmental health.’’
