Adewoye tasks FG on alternative energy
By LAIDE AKINBOADE
ABUJA—Worried by the epileptic power supply in the country, Director-General of National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI, Professor Segun Adewoye, has urged the Federal Government to subsidise alternative power supply for Nigerians to be able to afford it.
Adewoye, who stated this, weekend, admitted it would not be easy for the Federal Government to convince Nigerians who have a penchant for importing things to buy from indigenous companies.
He said: “If you are producing a product and it is of high quality and it is too expensive, nobody will buy it. But the antidote to this problem is for the Federal Government to subsidise and that is what happens in every society.”
“Government need to protect the society by subsidizing one thing or the other and give grants for research or acquisition of new technologies. All these enabling facilities are still not available in Nigeria.
“If if I spend every penny I have on the media, people will not still hear about me. And lot of people will still not be able to afford to buy my products because lack of infrastructures.
“Government needs to subsidize and to change the laws. The government of Japan in those days used to inspect their ships, if you bring cars to their country, they send it back in order to encourage patronage of their locally made goods.
”For us in the agency, we are partially commercialized by making sure all we produce are used in the market. Our marketing started first with government agencies , we say to them please don’t buy things abroad again, we can make them and we convince them.”
Adewoye challenged the Federal Government to take the lead role in establishing and funding some of the industries in the country.
According him, “If we have a good solar panel manufacturing plant, it will create lot of jobs in the rural areas.
“We are not looking at a specific number but the multiplier effect of this technology, when it takes off. if people in the science sector don”t buy from each other how can other people come and buy from us? That is why in NASENI today, we buy from other SEDI branches both Enugu and Minna and from there move to other parastatals.”
He said since the nation received 5.08 X 10kWH of energy per day from the sun, the establishment of solar panel plant in the country will generate electricity directly from the sun.
