By Seun Adams
The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, on Thursday said Nigeria is ready to domesticate Methanol Fuel Production for professionals and expatriates to exhibit their talents and exchange business ideas with their counterparts both home and abroad for the country’s development.
The Minister said this when the National Coordinator of the Movement for the Implementation of Methanol Fuel in the Niger Delta (MIMFIND) led by Comrade Stephen Okenarhe, and his group paid a courtesy visit in his office on Thursday, in Abuja.
MIMFIND is a coalition movement made up of members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ijaw Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEND), Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Niger Delta Liberators, Movement of Niger Delta (MOND), Bakassi Fighters among others.
Onu further stated that the Mission is to ensure that the National Policy on Methanol Fuel Production Technology is properly implemented to the benefit of the people of the Niger Delta Region and Nigeria as a whole.
Onu said that when Methanol policy was approved in 2019, the ministry embarked in so many activities that will help in the implementation of Methanol policy, adding that Nigeria is the first country in Africa to introduce this new technology.
He said: “We want to make sure that the mistake the nation made with crude oil is not repeated with methanol, and this requires actual technology by Expatriates to domesticate Crude oil exploration here in Niger.”
He added that MoU has been signed to ensure that Nigerian companies can benefit and participate in the whole Methanol Value Chain both upstream and downstream, to ensure that Nigerians are involved in all-round exploration.
He assured that federal government will make sure that Methanol policy is funded from gas flaring penalty purse to ensure that indigenous professionals be engaged in Methanol Fuel policy.
He added that the Ministry will work towards achieving this policy to the benefits of Niger Deltans and Nigerians as a whole.
Earlier, Okenrhe, who is the National Coordinator of the Movement for the Implementation of Methanol Fuel in the Niger Delta (MIMFIND), appealed to the Minister to kindly reach out to President Muhammadu Buhari, to approve funds from the Gas flare penalty purse, to be used to kick start the proper implementation process in affected communities in the Niger Delta Region.
He solicited MIMFIND’s partnership with FMSTI to create awareness in the Niger Delta Region on the importance of Methanol economy to the people and to engage the private sector to drive a proper implementation process
