Lagos – Mr John Ekoko, the chairman, Nigerian Environmental Society (NES), Lagos Island Chapter, on Monday urged the Federal Government to continue with the National Clean Cook Stoves Scheme.
Ekoko made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that the National Clean Cooking Scheme was expected to provide 20 million clean cook stoves over a 5-year period at the rate of 4 million stoves per annum.
NAN reports that the Federal Ministry of Environment has cancelled the N9.2 billion clean cook stoves and wonder bags contract, initiated by the former administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for rural women under the national clean cooking scheme.
The ministry noted that the German contractor, who was given three months to supply 750,000 units of the stove and 18,000 wonder bags under the scheme, had failed on his part to deliver the items.
Ekoko described the scheme as laudable noting that it was an aggressive drive to engender clean cooking culture among the poor rural women.
“Cooking with solid fossil is detrimental to health. It also results to incessant felling of trees which exposes the country to ecological problems.
“Carbon emissions into the atmosphere from charcoal and firewood being used in rural areas are high.
“To reduce this emission, conscious effort should be made through sustaining the clean cooking initiative,” he said.
Ekoko said that carbon emissions into the atmosphere add to the Greenhouses effect which result in depletion of the ozone layer.
He said that the benefit of achieving clean cooking by the rural community was the Carbon Credits arising from the registration by the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Environmentalist said that Nigeria could gain more than 50 per cent subsidy of whatever it spent through the generated carbon credits.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
He said that the scheme would also provide employment for Nigerians among other benefits apart from the fact that it helps to mitigate the effects of climate change. (NAN)
