John Shiklam in Kaduna
The senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial zone, Senator Shehu Sani, monday said he was opposed to decisions by the federal government to use nuclear energy to address the problems in the power sector.
Sani who was speaking while flagging off his electricity project, tagged: ‘Let there be light,’ said it would be disastrous to use nuclear energy in Nigeria in view of the poor maintenance culture in the country.
According to him, “nuclear energy comes with a lit of danger. In this year’s budget, there is N2 billion allocated to the construction of nuclear energy sites.
“My own fear is, are we ready for nuclear power? We are not! Nuclear energy is not like what happened when we try to break a pipeline. It requires a lot of safety measures. If we are to construct a nuclear station, we must know that it comes with consequences.
“We have seen the danger of nuclear energy in Japan, renewable energy is what we need to address the power problem.”
He maintained that the solution to the poor power situation in the country is renewable solar energy, adding that Nigerians should think of a better way of generating electricity.
He lamented that in spite of $25 spent on the power sector in the last 16 years, Nigerians have continue to live in darkness while socio-economic and industrial activities are at the lowest ebb.
Sani who noted that stable electricity supple is very vital to the economic and industrial development of any nation, explained that his decision to initiate the electricity project in his senatorial zone is to address the electricity need of the people in the area, especially rural communities.
He said he started the project about seven month ago with the distribution and installation of solar panels and transformers to labour 30 communities.
“I am introducing solar renewable energy to our communities, I wish to provide 100 communities with solar power in the next three years of my tenure as senator,” Sani said.
