Business
Energy Crisis: Expert Harps On Homegrown Solutions
A Policy and Regulations Development specialist, TunjiAriyomo, has advised the Nigerian government to seek homegrown solutions to the energy crisis rocking the country.
Ariyomo said the country would achieve rapid economic development should it attain energy sufficiency.
He gave the advise at a Public Lecture organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in Akure, last Friday.
He said Nigeria’s energy crisis has worsened with the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government in May, leading to increases in the pump price of petrol.
Ariyomo highlighted four major problems undermining Nigeria’s energy sector, including dependency on oil and gas, inadequate infrastructure, energy poverty, and environmental concerns.
According to him, to end the importation of petroleum products, which, he said, was draining forex and creating job losses, Nigeria needed to build its own refineries based on the technological capacity of Nigerians.
Ariyomo, however, stated that the country has not been able to maintain sophisticated refineries due to lack of capacity saying, “the refineries breakdown always affected us, and our people are simply unable to repair them”.
The expert observed that the USA, China, South Korea, and the UK have functional refineries because they build and operate them with local “knowledge and technical know-how– organic ownership of the technology associated with and incidental to petroleum refineries”.
To build their own refineries, he said, Nigerians must acquire the technical know-how, noting that “our forefathers had commanding control of the technologies with which they refined their palm oil.
“Hence, Nigerians can only fix crude oil refining by acquiring the technical know-how and organic capability to locally fabricate, locally assemble, and locally install all components of refineries leveraging indigenous capability.
“Indeed, once Nigeria and Nigerians own and control the required knowledge, possession of crude oil as a natural gift within its geographical boundary will no longer be an obligatory requirement in the nation’s quest to fix its energy needs and export the surplus. This is what is described as self-sufficiency.
“In simple words, Nigeria must stop seeing imports, or the race to build the biggest refinery procured with technologies controlled by its rivals as the compelling theme of its observations.
“Also, we must stop seeing crude oil itself as the issue here. We must only see it as a means to an end. Knowledge of the sciences behind the processes, competitive and practical application of that knowledge, and the strategic wherewithal to offer the services required to produce the goods and materials needed to drive our economies should be our focus.
“We must deliberately pivot away from a ‘cash and carry’ mindset that has plunged us into a country that is rudderless and unthinking in its approach to solving critical problems”.
Ariyomo also said states should be allowed to generate and distribute power.
“If a country is building a power transmission infrastructure for you, you are its market, especially if you are also doing it with its loan.
“You simply provide needed revenue assurance for its future, with interest. That country would never wish you to learn how to build good refineries, good roads, good power lines, good railways, etc.
“That country would never want you to become self-reliant and begin to build your own refinery, power lines, roads, railways, etc.
“In fact, the country building your road, your refinery, your railway line, or your power infrastructure is actually your strategic enemy. Write that down somewhere. Never forget.
“If we have commanding control of the technical wherewithal to locally fabricate, install, and manage our refining processes, we would automatically have expanded the economic value chain inherent in the entire petroleum product management process.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor