A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Dennis Idahosa has urged the Federal Government to harness other sources of revenue generation, warning that overreliance on oil and gas may prove disastrous.
He said this has become important ahead of the implementation of the resolutions of the 26th meeting of the Conference Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCOP26) in Glasgow.
In a statement by his media aide, Mr Friday Aghedo, the representative of the Ovia Federal Constituency, stated that Nigeria revenue would be affected negatively if it failed to look beyond the oil and gas sector that accounts for more than 65 per cent of the country’s revenue.
He noted that it was in a bid to avert the looming danger that he sponsored a motion titled, “Need to Create An Economic Revenue Road Map For The Future of Nigeria” on the floor of the Green Chamber.
Idahosa pointed out that Nigeria has numerous potential sources of revenue and if attention is not placed on them early, it would be of no benefit to its citizens and the nation at large.
He said that part of the resolution of the Glasgow meeting which took place between October 31 to November 12, 2021, is to phase out fossil fuels to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.
That parties to the Paris Agreement adopted at COP21 in Paris on December 12, 2015, entering into effect on November 4, 2016, are expected to transit from fossil fuel to clean energy and reach a Net Zero ambition for greenhouse gasses emission.
He said: “I am aware that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) while delivering his speech at the COP26 leaders’ summit pledged that Nigeria would cut its emissions to net-zero by 2060.
“This period, according to an expert, the viability of fossil fuels and hydrocarbon is speculated to last for another 20 years which gives the nation time to utilise and redirect the sources gained from oil and gas towards the development of other sectors of the economy for the benefit of the nation.
“I am concerned that following the recent resolution by all major countries at the UNCOP26 2021 summit, countries like Nigeria which depends mainly on hydrocarbon and fossil fuels for revenue and survival, will be the worst hit except careful and intentional precautions are taken to secure the future of Nigeria,” he stated.
