The Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola has said the nation will not attain electricity self-sufficiency unless the people use energy prudently and efficiently.
The governor urged Nigerians to imbibe the culture of energy conservation as a way of life.
Speaking on Wednesday, while addressing an assembly of pupils at the 2013 Lagos State Power Kids Awards, the Governor explained that making conservation a way of life would guarantee everyone the opportunity to see and enjoy the future even in the face of inadequate power supply in the country.
“Today, the per capital consumption of electricity is considered to be an index of the development of any country. As you can imagine, our country is still struggling for that index but we can pick ourselves up.
“The demand for energy especially in the form of electricity and petroleum products is increasing. We should know that the sources of energy are limited and becoming exhaustive.
“Energy consumption is expected to grow by a third over the next two decades alone, so our capacity to consume will increase. The resources that will supply them are not indicative of going up but on the contrary they are decreasing,” Fashola said.
He explained further that based on the limited resources available, “it is the energy efficient communities that will win.”
Fashola said the state government had already taken leadership from the front by ensuring that the state secretariat was refitted with energy saving bulbs.
He said people should always switch off electricity appliances when they do not need them and ensure that they use energy saving bulbs when they have to.
The governor explained that the inauguration of the Power Kids programme in the state was part of his administration’s plan to make the citizens understand the importance of conserving energy.
He said, “Our plan is to add another 20 schools in the next programme so that we will take the number of schools participating in the programme to 50. This initiative will always be about rewarding excellence in education. It is my hope that this will serve as a motivation to the schools to continue to improve.”
He said if Nigerians could develop the lexicon of “flashing” as a means of conserving money through mobile telephone communication, the same strategy should be transferred to the power sector.
