Podcast Q1: FG fails to deliver Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline

Following assurances that the 614 km (384 miles) long gas pipeline would begin running in the first quarter of this year, the Federal Government was unable to complete the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano project.

The pipeline, whose construction started in June 2020, will eventually produce 3.6 gigawatts of electricity and assist gas-based industries along its route, according to Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari.

Before the President departs, we will refuel this line. We plan to supply gas to this line by the first quarter of 2023. Due to this initiative, power will be stabilized, and industry will grow, Kyari told reporters last year.

In the country’s north, the AKK pipeline travels through Kaduna on its way from Ajaokuta to Kano.

But according to people with direct knowledge of the situation, it is unclear whether the project will be completed “anytime soon.”

Inquiries about the pipeline projects were not answered by the NNPCL’s external communications department.

As a result of internal or inter-Economic of West African States (ECOWAS) conflicts, a few gas pipeline projects are now on hold.

Both the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline and the $13 billion 4,000 km Trans-Sahara gas pipeline project are being slowed down by the political unrest in the Republic of Niger.

According to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigeria has roughly 209 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

The Trans-Saharan gas pipeline will transport Nigerian gas to Europe once it is finished.

Although the project has great potential for Nigeria and Europe, delivery is currently dubious, according to analysts, because of the recent coup in Niger.

Efem Nkam Ubi, an associate professor at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, stated that it was crucial for the nations involved in the pipeline project to consider diplomatic and, more importantly, dialogue-based alternatives to military action in order to resolve the Niger crisis.

Beatrice Bianchi, a political analyst and Sahel specialist at the Med-Or Foundation, an Italian think tank, claimed that the pipeline project aimed to unite several continents.

However, she continued, “it has consistently been hampered by setbacks, delays, and security issues brought on by Tuareg rebellions, as well as issues in both Niger and Nigeria.

Due to the focus on finding a solution for the regional issue, the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project also faces challenges.

The 5,600-kilometer project was signed by Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Benin Republic, Republic of Guinea, Togo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, and Mauritania.

The program, a joint effort between the Federal Government and the Kingdom of Morocco, was created during King Mohammed VI of Morocco’s visit to Nigeria in December 2016.

Its objectives include making money off of Nigeria’s more than 206 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, diversifying the country’s gas export routes, and ending gas flaring.

Additionally, the about 7,000-kilometer line will start on Brass Island in Nigeria, travel through 13 other African nations, and end in the northern part of Morocco, where it will be connected to the current Maghreb European Pipeline. This line would help feed gas to Morocco, as well as to Europe and 13 other countries.