Stakeholders in the oil-rich but impoverished Niger Delta region have picked holes in the global call for an energy transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, saying that the process and intentions of the West should be interrogated before African countries embrace it hook, line and sinker.
The term “energy transition” implies the movement from fossil-based energy systems, like coal, oil, and natural gas, to renewable systems like solar, wind, biofuel, hydrogen and others.
The stakeholders, including renowned environmentalists, Alagoa Morris and Charles Oyibo, spoke at a community dialogue programme tagged, ‘Learning From The Wise With Comrade Alagoa,’ organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The programme, anchored by Mfoniso Anita and Cadmus Enade, both Programmes Managers at HOMEF, was to educate aspiring environmentalists on the rigor of environmental reportage, especially in the difficult terrain of the Niger Delta.
Alagoa, who was the guest speaker at the event, said that there are many variables, including job loss, the remote communities and the environment, that must be taken into consideration before Africans can fully embrace and benefit from the energy transition.
He said: “And for us to transit, we are now thinking of how just this transition should be. People will lose their jobs. And in terms of energy, when we are talking about energy, we should understand that we are used to cooking with gas.”
