Adoption of compressed natural gas and national security in Nigeria

Abstract

A diversified energy basket strengthens resilience and reduce vulnerability to international vagaries in crude oil prices. For a country with moribund refineries, extensive illegal oil bunkering, over reliant on imported fossil fuel, and poor energy mix, the adoption of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) becomes a determining alternate to transportation, industrial operations, and dwindling foreign reserves for Nigeria. The inability to hit the ground running with institutional framework to chaperone the CNG adoption is same replica of absence of an agency for tracing and tracking of arms proliferation. It was against this background that this study engage modernisation theory to examine the influence of the adoption of CNG on National Security in Nigeria. This study decompose national security into challenges confronting CNG adoption, and CNG influence on economic security. The study engaged qualitative research design with reliance on internet materials, observations, government reports, and grey literature. Findings from the study showed that CNG innovative technology is negatively impacted by challenges confronting its adoption, Study also submitted that CNG adoption positively influence economic security due to its availability, cost effectiveness and foreign exchange savings to the federal government. Based on these findings, the study recommends that all tiers of government should create an enabling infrastructure environment for coordinated private sector involvement in solving identified CNG challenges. The study also  recommends that all tiers of government including tertiary institutions should further amplify through a Whole Society Approach the economic benefits, professional retrofitting standards of CNG as alternative to fossil fuel patronage in general endeavors.