Under President Bola Tinubu’s stewardship, Nigeria looks set to take a new leap into a future where the vehicles plying highways and inner districts no longer run on petrol or any fuel considered harmful to the environment. So, this is why there has been a directive shunning further requests to procure carbon-emitting cars by public institutions.

This decision was reached during the federal executive council meeting on Monday 12 May. According to the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Ajuri Ngelale, there is a burning thirst at the presidency and as an implication, the public sector, over a quicker switch to clean energy use.

It looks like President Tinubu walking the talk one more time. He has been leading delegates to United Nations gatherings where there has been relentless emphasis on the need to curb earth warming gases such as carbon dioxide or methane.

Most of Nigeria’s pollution comes from oil refining and then the country’s transportation utilities. Applying compressed natural gas would power vehicles and offer cheap energy alternatives that can help lower living cost for households.

This nation will not progress forward if we continue to dance on the same spot, the president was quoted as saying.

He adds that we have the will to drive the implementation of CNG adoption across the country, and we must set the example as public officials in leading the way to that prosperous future that we are working to achieve for our people.

President Tinubu Directs Mandatory Procurement of CNG-Powered Vehicles pic.twitter.com/fAnwlrBrP5

— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) May 13, 2024

ALSO READ: Working Nigerians to get better life quality via President Tinubu’s newly launched CREDICORP

Since becoming Nigeria’s president last May, Mr Tinubu has been working on extraordinary reforms that have been seen to outpace any past predecessor. The president has officially removed petrol subsidies and that has left a cascading effect with unprecedented inflation being one of them.

Towards his one year anniversary since he got inaugurated, the president and his ministers have been working to achieve the release of gas-powered buses and rickshaws. The government is doing this in conjunction with private sector stakeholders who are helping to assemble the vehicles locally.

At JET Motor Company’s assembling plant in Lagos, Nigeria’s Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Wale Edun has been making rounds. He was at the facilities last Friday to check the progress of the buses being put together.

The feelers during the encounter point to a situation under control, which means soon, Nigerians will have access to cheaper transportation.

I have come to see the CNG buses that Nigerians are asking about, Finance minister Edun had explained about his visit.  I have seen them. I have tested them and driven them. I have seen them being assembled. The benefits will soon be available to Nigerians.

 Two critical aims will be achieved. Whereas it costs about ₦55,000 to fill a 15-20 seater [bus] with petrol, it will cost between ₦12-15,000 to fill a CNG bus of the same capacity. This is three times, if not four times less. This is a huge savings that will help reduce transport costs and at the same time, help reduce inflation.

As much as 2,500 compressed natural gas-powered vehicles are expected to be released in 15 days from this report. Other schemes like the CREDICORP infrastructure launching today as well as the student loan still brewing, are part of the interventions to make Nigeria livable for all.

ALSO READ: How far can $75m go towards building Nigeria’s climate change resilience?

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.