A former Governor of Cross River state, Mr Donald Duke has called on the Federal government to immediately explore avenues to cut down on the cost of energy supply in the country.
The former governor reasoned that a significant cut in the cost of energy will help reduce the country’s current inflation figure of 33.40 percent.
Duke spoke at the weekend in Abuja at the Teens Career Conference of The Everlasting Arms Parish TEAP of the Redeemed Christian Church of God RCCG.
According to Duke, “You know why you are having inflation? High energy. So, if the cost of energy, fuel goes up, inflation will go up, because you are going to transport your food, you are going to transport other things, people. I am just giving you that as an example. If, for instance, fuel was N700 per litre and then today it rises per litre, inflation will almost double. If the cost of electricity increases, it also inflates.
“But let us look at this. This is a country that flares gas. That is energy. It is a country that has oil. We can fix the price of our oil. We don’t have to allow the rest of the world determine the price of our oil for our own consumption.
“We can say this is how we are going to do it, and monitor it in such a way that it serves us and not go to other countries. That is very important. The second thing is, all this energy, gas that we are flaring, has it not occurred to us to use it for the sake of our own people?
“Just that alone will crash this inflation you are talking about. So when you look at it, there is no problem that cannot be solved”.
Addressing the teenagers on the them of the conference, “The Power of Music”, Duke said Nigeria is a country of immense blessings, urging them to tap into the power of their creative potentials to fulfill their divine purpose.
He said; “When music is spiritual, it goes beyond generations but when it is a craft, it does not last long. The theme today is ‘The Power of Music’. What makes music is harmony”.
