Fresh Vision

...insightful submissions on contemporary issues of life.

The greatest threat to what can be, is the seeming peace and comfort of what already is

~ Olakunle Soriyan

Your are reading the ‘Politics’ Column.

Issues Affecting the Deployment of Solar Power in Nigeria

by samuel on September 14th, 2017 for Business and Management, Miscellaneous, Politics, Science

1.0: INTRODUCTION: Energy utilization is a core attribute of humanity. With increasing population also comes an increase in the demand for energy. The IEA in its World Energy Outlook, projects about 83% increase in global energy demand in the next 20 years (IEA 2014a). Although countries naturally turn fossil fuels as part of their energy mix due to its plentiful and reliable nature the same report reveals that there would be significant increase in renewables.

Aside the fact that fossil fuels are exhaustible, their combustion also has immense adverse effect on the climate with (GHG) emissions, capable of bringing the world to an abrupt end.  Already, the cost of renewable energy is dropping across several countries, as at 2014, new wind power was cheaper than new coal and gas power in Australia, China and the United States (Sussams, et al 2015). Electricity from roof-top photovoltaic systems is also cheaper than grid supply in many countries and places across the world. (Chen 2014).

Being naturally replenishing resources, the place of renewable energy in the global energy mix is sacrosanct, and tireless effort is required in a bid to perhaps completely transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy.

As the most populous country in Africa – a mineral rich continent – it is poignant to reflect of on the issues affecting the energy industry and the role of renewable energy technology for Nigeria. With renewable electricity as focus, the challenges of its deployment, as well as a review of existing commercial risks and policy instruments that could enhance the growth of industry are discussed in this article, with strategic recommendations proffered by comparing tested risk mitigation approaches and solutions that have been successful in other Countries across the globe.

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…carbon budget, un-burnable carbon, and carbon taxes on of the future of oil and gas. industry.

by samuel on January 24th, 2017 for Business and Management, Politics, Science

  1. Simplifying the concepts of Carbon budget and un-burnable carbon.

Climate change has been a topical issue since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit.  Indeed climate change is happening, as can be witnessed as increased in global warming, decreasing ice caps, flooding of low lands and other ripple effects on humans and the natural environment. Amongst other deliberations in the Summit was for alternative sources of energy to replace fossil fuels, which delegates linked to climate change. Offshore Production and flareFollowing this was an agreement on the Climate Change Convention, which has garnered global support of its conclusions – there global warming does exist, and that it is causes by human activities emitting CO2 – formulating the Kyoto Protocol in 1998 and the Copenhagen Accord in 2009. However, real commitments were only made in 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by 196 countries and by November 2016, have been ratified by 115 countries. In doing so they have committed in Article 2 to significantly reduce the impact of climate change by

holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2oC above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels,” (UNFCCC 2015).

Scientists believe that the 1.5 °C goal is will require zero emissions sometime between 2030 and 2050. (Sutter et al 2015) In the light of this commitment, it is obvious that present carbon emissions have to be curtailed. Thus, a

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Koffi Annan’s Nobel Lecture

by samuel on July 31st, 2012 for Politics

Kofi Annan

Great speech by a man I’ve got great admiration for; quintessential Koffi Annan, who in this pace-setting presentation, outlines his dream for the United Nations in the 21st Century. More than a decade after, with my dear nation enmeshed in religious intolerance and emerging terrorism, I ponder with grave concern our sincerity in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. If this is also part of the “Butterfly Effect” in the world of human activity, then why not for the better?,  that the Labours of our heroes past will not be in vain.

Please reflect on his soul- searching Transcript below.

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Now “This Past Must Address Its Present”!. Ruminating Wole Soyinka’s Nobel Lecture.

by samuel on September 20th, 2011 for Miscellaneous, Politics

When achievements end in themselves, they die with their achievers. For about 5 yrs since I first scrutinized this speech by a fellow Nigerian, my conviction has grown to fully assert that achievements can only best be used as tool to break-up other barriers, often times in the aid of an oppressed neighbour. What more nobility of heart is demonstrable,  than the use of such rare once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as a Nobel lecture, to condemn injustice and racism drawing from one’s technical expertise in the literary profession, that  the then apartheid South Africa be free.

Please savour with me Wole Soyinka’s Nobel Lecture delivered when I was little more than one year old, yet full of lessons for our present circumstance and lands where surreptitious discrimination  still exist by way of tribalism, nepotism, favouritism, etc., in economic and political climes.

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POPULATION BURDEN AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LIBERATION: Peering at Tertiary Education in Nigeria.

by samuel on June 27th, 2011 for Politics

With the inauguration of a new president in Nigeria last month, the promise of hope is quickly greeted with the numerous challenges that has held our nation underdeveloped. The endless list includes deficient power supply, poor health care system , security challenges, inadequate physical infrastructure and industries,  corruption etc., all exacerbated by  a large and growing population with attendant unemployment.  Simple logic posits that all of the above can only be overcome  by a team of prepared individuals, empowered with the right skills, determined  beyond defeat, pursuing a clear vision.  This Nigerian dream is surely achievable,  but only when all Nigerians are active members of the combat team, whose grooming  hinge on  the presently ailing educational sector.  As the new administration rolls out its agenda for improving this universal base on which all other sectors of the economy depend, one wishes to reflect on our educational fortunes, in a perspective that is scarcely considered.

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WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

by samuel on April 20th, 2011 for Issues on Faith, Politics

Olakunle Soriyan

Guest Article

In the late 90s, Silicon Valley, the haven of multi billion dollar IT companies, witnessed dramatic shows. The experience is a wakeup call to entrepreneurs and business executives of this century and beyond to make room for the arrival of a global economy driven by knowledge, technology and “dominance thinking” where superiority is determined by originality and innovation. Now, an African folktale spells out this way: Every morning, a gazelle walks and thinks, ‘to stay alive, I have to run faster than the fastest lion.’ This is always a significant incentive for gazelles to learn to run faster. But just over the hill, a lion realizes, ‘I have to run faster than the slowest gazelle otherwise I could go hungry’; meaning that even lions (if they get lazy and/or if gazelles get smarter) can starve; and so can great corporations and great

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Change via the Ballot

by samuel on April 1st, 2011 for Politics

Samuel Kwelle

As Nigerians go to general elections this month, apathy from many citizens is not unexpected, since results in the past i.e 1999, 2003, and 2007, have often created more doubts, than reflect the wishes of the majority voters. Numerous Court judgments that followed buttress this. But can folding our arms to any challenging situation of life yield one’s desired solution? No! The answer should be, since doing nothing should logically yield nothing. And  worse in this case is the pending reality that all elective offices will certainly be occupied by an aspirant at the end of the exercise.  Contrary to certain

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