Nigeria Need To Be Intentional About Development – Professor Ajayi

By Ayo Ajayi

For Nigeria to attain its desired development, the policy makers have to be intentional about energy sustainability and production in the manufacturing sector of the economy.

This was the submission of professor of Mechanical Engineering at Covenant University, Ota, Professor Oluseyi Ajayi when he delivered the University’s 30^th Inaugural Lecture, titled, “Sustainable Energy and Production Technology: Panacea for the Development we Want” on Friday at the University campus.

Professor Ajayi emphasised energy sustainability and production as automatic solutions to the country’s economic challenges adding that attractive policies would make investors and Nigerians smile.

“The government must prioritise our national energy development outlook for Nigerians to experience and enjoy the development we want. It seems the more we try as a nation, the less we achieve meaningful outcome. We therefore must prioritise and be intentional in our energy sufficiency strategy,” he explained.

The lecturer argued that, there must be attractive incentives to woo Renewable Energy investors. Such incentives, according to him, should include tax holidays, provision of low or interest free loans, appropriate feed-in tariff for grid connected renewable electricity, legalized the right to connect renewable electricity to the national grid, and the obligations for national electricity utility to purchase renewable energy among others.

Professor Ajayi also called for the recognition of the manufacturing sector as the foundation for a robust national development, calling on government to refocus the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan of 2014 to include ways to ensure a reduction in the export of raw materials and promote their valorization. “By so doing”, he said, “Nigeria will have reduced unemployment rate, improve GDP growth rate, improve standard of living, and higher value currency.”