On Tuesday, May 28, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, successfully distributed 1000 free gas cylinders in Abuja, according to a statement on the minister’s Twitter (X) handle. The minister conducted this social program under the Decade of Gas Programme.
The statement indicated that this is the inaugural launch of the Grassroots LPG Penetration Programme for Women and Youths, part of activities to mark the first anniversary of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. As part of a wider nationwide campaign of the Decade of Gas Programme, the minister will distribute over 250,000 gas cylinders nationwide to support needy households.
According to the minister, the initiative aligns with the Grassroot LPG Penetration Programme for Women and Youth. It aims to relieve families struggling to access clean and efficient cooking fuel.
According to Ekpo, the initiative was supported by Smart Gas, A4E Energy and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). The minister has also pledged that by 2030, Nigeria will convert 250,000 houses a year to clean cooking gas.
It is important to note that statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) on clean cooking show that nearly four out of five Africans continue to rely on traditional cooking methods, including open fires and basic stoves fueled by wood, charcoal, and animal dung.
This reliance perpetuates a cycle of health hazards, gender inequality, and environmental degradation, with women and children bearing the brunt of the consequences.
More IEA statistics
In its report, a Vison on Clean Cooking Access for All, the IEA confirms that the number of people without clean cooking access continued to grow in sub-Saharan Africa, where clean cooking campaigns did not keep pace with population growth. Today, 1 billion people on the continent- roughly four in every five – rely on highly polluting cooking fuels used in open fires or basic stoves.
The report also emphasises that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, remains the primary solution to deliver clean cooking access, representing nearly half of the households gaining access by 2030. In the last decade, 70% of those who gained access did so through LPG.