To reduce energy costs and create job opportunities for youths in the Compress Natural Gas CNG value chain, the Nigerian government says it targets converting 250,000 vehicles annually to Compress Natural Gas CNG-powered vehicles.
The Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives, Monitoring And Delivery, Titilope Gbadamosi disclosed this during a National Youth Conference organised by the National Automotive Design and Development Council NADDC in collaboration with the Office of the Special Assistance to the President on Youth Initiatives, Monitoring And Delivery in Abuja Nigeria’s capital.
She stated that the CNG program launched by President Bola Tinubu was designed to mitigate the impact of petroleum subsidy removal by providing more affordable and sustainable energy alternatives.
According to Gbadamosi, ‘the transition to CNG in the automotive sector is not just an environmental imperative, it also represents a significant opportunity for job creation, skills development and innovation amo
ng our youths.’
‘This event with the theme, ‘Opportunities for youth in the CNG conversion value chain, safety and benefits in the usage of CNG in the Automotive Sector will provide an introductory window to the technicality of the CNG, we are here to equip and empower you with the knowledge, skill, and networks necessary to thrive in this sector,’ she stated.
The Director General of the NADDC, Mr Oluwemimo Osanipin during his speech called on the youth to log on to the NADDC portal to get accredited to own a CNG conversion workshop.
‘Today you can log on to www.naddc.gov.ng to be an accredited workshop, not only that, there is a portion where you can put in everything you have done and put the label, have your QR code when you scan it will reveal the name, the address, the phone number and the contact person that did the conversion and software was developed in house,’ Mr Osanipin explained.
The NADDC boss noted that to train youth in CNG Conversion, there was consultation with the Sector Skill Council w
hich comprises 17 different stakeholders within the auto ecosystem.
‘We came together with what we call the National Occupational Standard that would be used to train the youth, the practitioners and operators in that ecosystem.’
He also revealed that the council in collaboration with stakeholders is set to commence a week of free nationwide training which will be done state by state adding that free kits will be provided.
Also, the representative of the Bank of Industry, BoI, Mr Emmanuel Ojowuro, said the bank is glad to partner with NADDC to ensure there are funds for anyone who requires the bank’s support.
‘We have the funds to support you, we can finance all the kits you will need for the conversion process and also give you working capital to do the business, this is an innovation we are ready to work with.’
The Program Director of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas initiative, PCNGi, Mr Micheal Olugbemi said Nigeria is a natural gas country blessed with over 232 Trillion Cubic Feet TCF of gas
already discovered.
‘We have enough gas to power Europe for 50 years, enough gas to power Nigeria for 99 years, the gas that we have is cheaper safer, it is more reliable and better for the environment, we have no business importing PMS, we have no business importing diesel it is cheaper at about 70 percent and more cheaper than the price of diesel and petrol,’ he added.
Source: Voice of Nigeria