By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nigerians, especially at the grassroots, have been urged not to resort to the use of firewood as a result of the economic hardship and recent hike in the process of cooking gas.

The warning came from researchers and climate change advocates at a programme held in Abuja on Tuesday to discuss ‘Maximising energy transition opportunities in Nigeria.’

The concern comes in the wake of the price hike of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, also known as cooking gas, from N1,350 to N1,500/kg.

The PUNCH also reported that the prices of cooking gas peaked at N1,500/kg in some retail outlets in Ogun and Lagos States as of Sunday with the average price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas in Abuja rising by 41.6 per cent to N17,000 in different areas.

Reacting, the Director for Partnership and Development, Shehu Yar’Adua Foundation, Amara Nwamkpa, admitted that the latest development could force some Nigerians to consider resorting to the use of firewood for cooking.

Nwamkpa, however, urged Nigerians not to be hasty in their decision to abandon cooking gas for firewood because of exposure to smoke and its health implications.

The researcher added that at a time when the world is aiming toward an energy transition occasioned by climate change, Nigerians should start considering the option of renewable energy and clean cooking.

He said, “The transition to clean cooking is not an attempt to completely eliminate firewood but to reduce the exposure and inhalation of smoke in the process of its use. These are some of the things that cause respiratory diseases and 40 per cent of the pneumonia cases we are having in the country.

“There are several versions of this clean cooking (stoves) that still use firewood. The good thing about it is that it uses less wood. This involves rudimentary technology because clean cooking is all about insulation and the expertise of building these local ovens or stoves can even be done by local welders and artisans in the community.

“This is the kind of initiative that could touch the lives of the majority of Nigerians if we successfully transition from continued exposure to firewood smoke to clean cooking. It will also improve their health and quality of life, especially for people at the bottom of the pyramid. It will even ameliorate the hardship many areas facing in the country.”

Another expert from the Africa Policy Research Initiative, Olumide Onitekun, sounded the same warning that the use of firewood comes with health hazards.

Onitekun also raised concerns that it would take consistent advocacy to educate Nigerians at the grassroots on the danger because of the age-long cultural barrier around the use of firewood.

He said, “Our transition is not binary. It is a process. Nigeria has an abundance of natural gas. Health-wise, using firewood for cooking is not safe. There are a whole lot of health implications involved when humans are exposed to the emissions that come from firewood cooking.

“This is why the advocacy for clean cooking is very important. The health benefits of climate change beyond the environment cannot be overemphasised. The need to domesticate clean cooking is essential.

“We know there is a cultural barrier to this because people, especially at the grassroots have been using firewood for a long time. This is why engaging them must be targeted. I believe it is high time the government put the right policy in place to stimulate the interest of the private sector in the area of renewable energy.

“Things may be expensive, there are different forms of acquisition. For instance, I understand the pay-as-you-go model comes with its challenges. But we can’t have a solution without a challenge.”

Earlier in his presentation, Founding Partner of Nextier Advisory Limited, Patrick Okigbo emphasised that the fundamental difference between energy transition and fossil fuel is that the former is driven by climate change and not by scarcity or efficiency.

Okigbo also expressed conviction that Nigeria is gradually tilting toward the global shift to renewable energy and projected a period when it would no longer require crude oil from the Niger Delta.