From Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
THE Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) at the weekend said it has reduced gas flaring in the country from 65 per cent to 20 per cent
It added that Nigeria is no longer in the league of top five gas flaring countries in the world. Its Managing Director, Babs Omotowa, said this in Ilorin, the Kwara State at the commissioning of NLNG/ University Ilorin Engineering Research Centre.
Omotowa said that through the company’s university support programme, NLNG is investing a sum of $12 million in six universities in the country.
According to him, “One of the reasons Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) was established was to reduce gas flaring in the country. When we started, Nigeria was flaring about 65 per cent of its gas. We were the second highest gas flaring nation in the world. Through the construction of the six trains we have in NLNG, we have helped to bring that down to about 20 per cent and today, we are no longer top five gas flaring countries in the world. So we are very proud that we have contributed to the environmental improvement in the country and the health implications of that.
“In addition, we provide a significant source of revenue for the nation and also supplying a vast majority of the cooking gas used in many homes in Nigeria today.”
He listed the benefiting universities under the support programme as Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), University of Ibadan (UI), University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).
The NLNG boss added that one of the company’s “approaches is to develop Nigerian human capital and foster technological advancement. “We recognize that universities are one of the critical fertile grounds from which ideas to fast-track Nigeria’s progress will spring from. With this programme, NLNG is partnering with six universities in Nigeria to uplift engineering teaching and research in our tertiary institutions. On its part, NLNG invested two million Dollars each to build and equip world-class engineering facilities in these schools.”
He said the universities were chosen based on their relative ranking in their geopolitical zones by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the world ranking of universities.
In a remark, Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, represented by the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Musa Yeketi said that “NLNG, a major global gas supplier,has been a huge revenue earner for the country.” Practically every state in the country has felt the positive impact of this company as proven by the huge tax which the company paid to the federal government last year which was utilised asa bailout fund for several states.
“The company’s intervention in the domestic LPG market has also guaranteed product availability and stabilised prices in the country.