Oil

As conventional oil reserves decline, international oil companies are increasingly turning their attention towards unconventional oils such as bitumen to meet rising demand for petroleum products. Bitumen, a very heavy oil, can be removed from the oil sands and used in road construction or upgraded into synthetic crude oil.  With an estimated 38 billion barrels of bitumen across Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, and Lagos states, Nigeria ranks 6th globally among countries with bitumen reserves. Armsfree Ajanaku has travelled to Ondo state communities situated along the bitumen belt of Nigeria to try and understand the people’s perception about the bitumen under their feet and their aspiration for development. He describes his experience in this article. 

Nigeria’s renewable energy industry is tiny by all means, despite excellent conditions for electricity production from solar, small hydro and biomass sources. If Nigeria covered only 1% of its land mass with solar panels, it could produce 192,000 megawatts of power, compared to the 4,000 megawatts that are currently available on the national grid. In his contribution to the Green Deal Nigeria study, Huzi Mshelia describes the manifold efforts on energy policy and regulation, which have so far resulted in little results.

159 words to inspire you to think beyond oil… How would Nigeria look like once it has decided to go green on energy?

This study looks at the Oil Commissions in some Niger Delta states, which were set up 10 years ago in order to ensure that the oil wealth trickles down to the communities living in oil producing areas. How is the Commissions’ work impacting on the lives of these communities? Do they work in a transparent manner? What is their self-perception? Uwafiokun Idemudia is Assistant Professor of Development Studies and Director of the African Studies Programme at the York University in Toronto, Canada. He visited the states of Delta, Edo and Ondo in 2011 for this study.    

The general strike is over, but no-one knows what is going to happen to the Occupy Nigeria movement. The compromise on the price of fuel has not answered the calls by protesters for more accountability of government. “Remove Corruption, Not Subsidy” lingers on. Soji Apampa of Integrity Organization, a research and advocacy organization that seeks to fight corruption through business and citizens’ alliances describes the background of the story.