In a bid to fast-track economic development in the country, a university  teacher,  Prof Friday B. Sigalo has called for the diversification of sources of energy from oil.
Prof. Sigalo, who stated this as part of recommendations in his inaugural lecture titled, “The Energy Equation: Its Implications in Physics and the National Economy”, said the diversification should be into solar, Nuclear and Biomas energies.
“What is holding us down as a country in scientific and national development is our approach to energy issues.
“At the moment, we are heavily dependent on oil as a source of revenue, and a source of energy for the nation.
“We will need to diversify our energy sources, tapping into solar, nuclear and Biomas, which are cleaner and sustainable”, he said.
Sigalo, a Professor of Applied Physics in the Department of Physics, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), stated that beyond this diversification, the study of physics should be taken seriously in schools to enhance inputs in the nation’s technological development.
This, he said, is because “physics is a research science, and as such, it is needed in the manufacturing of any product or in creating a new method of production”.
According to him, energy (power) remains a determining factor in the growth of Nigeria’s economy, hence “even the agriculture industry cannot do without power in this modern times”.
While urging the government to tackle the problem of sustainable power in order to move the country fast out of recession, he noted that the fundamentals in laws of science should be the root of Nigeria’s experimental set up.
This, he explained will enable Nigeria to build computers and cars, different from assembling same as it is done now.

Sogbeba Dokubo