In a major push to promote clean cooking energy across Nigeria, the Federal Government commenced the free distribution of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders on Monday, aiming to transition at least one million households to clean cooking gas by 2030.
The initiative, dubbed the “LPG Grassroots Penetration Program,” falls under the broader “Decade of Gas” agenda and aims to distribute approximately 250,000 gas cylinders to women in rural communities nationwide.
During the program’s launch in Abuja’s Apo Resettlement area, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, emphasized the administration’s commitment to increasing domestic gas usage. Ekpo, who oversaw the handover of 1,000 filled 3kg cylinders to rural women from the Federal Capital Territory’s six area councils, explained that the government’s promotion of gas as the preferred cooking fuel would improve the health of women and girls, who bear the greatest risk from traditional cooking fuels.
“We’re not only introducing a program today; we’re on a mission to transform millions of Nigerian lives across our six geographical zones,” Ekpo stated. “By 2030, we aim to convert 250,000 households per year to clean cooking gas – an ambitious but achievable target.”
He added, “This program demonstrates our unwavering dedication to reducing over-reliance on solid fuels like firewood, kerosene, and charcoal, which have long served as the primary energy source for many households.”
The Coordinating Director of the ‘Decade of Gas’ program, Mr. Ed Ubong, highlighted that the private sector-funded initiative would put an end to the use of wood and kerosene in homes, aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s theme: “Gas to Prosperity, a Renewed Hope.”
“As part of the LPG grassroots program, we are committed to distributing over a million cooking cylinders, primarily to women in rural areas,” Ubong said. “Cooking gas is cleaner, and Nigeria has significant gas resources, so we will partner with the private sector under the supervision of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) to deploy over a million cylinders at a rate of about 250,000 per year to all parts of Nigeria.”CopyRetry
