Mallam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has pledged that the current 614-kilometer Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project will be completed on time, generating huge employment opportunities and ensuring the country’s stability.
Dr. Kennie Obateru, the NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, stated this Thursday during the Gas Sector Stakeholders’ Forum in Kano, Kano State, with the theme: “Optimizing the Economic Development Capacity of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline Project.”
Mallam Kyari claimed in a paper titled “The AKK as an Economic Development Game-Changer – NNPC’s Vision, Contributions, and Plan Forward” that the AKK gas project will assist overhaul 232 industries, resulting in huge job possibilities and wealth for the people.
Upon finished, he added, it will also function as a gas supply connection to other African countries and Europe.
“This project has been in the works for 30 years, with the goal of delivering gas to Europe via the Trans-Sahara route. What we’re witnessing now would initially supply at least 2 billion standard cubic feet of gas to the domestic market, with the potential to grow. This means that the whole country’s gas supply network will be debottled,” Mallam Kyari explained.
Read also: EFCC arrests an ex-governor and his wife on corruption charges
He said that the AKK gas project will also result in the construction of three independent power plants (IPPs) in Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano, which would enhance energy supplies and encourage the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria.
“I want to be clear: this meeting would not have been feasible if we didn’t have a clear view of the AKK gas pipeline project’s completion. This is achievable as a result of Mr. President’s clear instruction on the need to increase domestic gas use in order to benefit from the vast gas resources we have as a country. He has provided us with all of the necessary resources and incentives to complete this project,” he said.
Mallam Kyari stated that the AKK gas project will benefit the agricultural, industrial, manufacturing, and power sectors, as well as the nation’s general economic prosperity.
He said that the AKK gas pipeline project was in accordance with the Federal Government’s desire to decrease the country’s carbon footprint as part of the worldwide effort to combat global warming and climate change, as well as the Decade of Gas initiative.
According to him, gas is a key driver of prosperity around the world, and it cannot be any different in Nigeria, pointing out that the extensive industrial layout in the Otta area of Ogun and Lagos States is anchored on the NNPC’s and its partners’ gas supply, which is creating jobs and other opportunities for people.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said in his keynote address that the Gas Sector Stakeholders Forum would ensure collaboration among stakeholders aimed at kicking-starting the required activities that would ensure full use of the gas to be delivered through the AKK pipeline when it is completed.
Chief Sylva stated, “Today’s ceremony underlines our commitment to realizing the inherent potentials of gas consumption as a national catalyst for attaining economic diversification from crude oil and as a transition fuel from today’s fossil fuels to tomorrow’s renewable energy.”
Major players in the oil and gas value chain, as well as Kano Governor Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, were in person, while the governors of Nasarawa, Niger, and Kaduna, as well as the Hon Minister of Finance and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, participated remotely. A delegation from the Governor of Kogi State was sent.
Join Television Nigerian Whatsapp Now
Join Television Nigerian Facebook Now
Join Television Nigerian Twitter Now
Join Television Nigerian YouTUbe Now
, has pledged that the current 614-kilometer){kind=link}