A Germany based Nigerian Engineer, Dr. Ibrahim Muritala, has advocated inclusion of renewable energy systems into Nigeria’s Engineering academic curriculum as it will not only resolve energy challenges but also improve the country’s economy.
Energy challenge has been a major problem in the Nigerian economy. However with abundance of renewable energy in the aspect of wind, solar, bio energy, geothermal, hydropower amongst others, Dr. Muritala said there is opportunity to resolving the challenge by training undergraduates to fill up the knowledge gap with the Nigerian Economy
He said this as a guest discussant on the topic: “Integrating Renewable Energy systems Education into Chemical Engineering Curriculum” during the monthly technical webinar session of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers NSChE.
Muritala who is a Senior Researcher and Project manager at the German Aerospace Center, said “part of the benefits of renewable energy system in education is to improve on the economy by producing graduates that understand energy efficiency.
We have seen the inefficiency in our energy sector and looked into the potential and the global trend, so having renewable energy system in the curriculum of Chemical Engineering students will open up many opportunities in the energy sector and others”.
Muritala believes the ideas will prepare the students for the current and future job market beyond chemical industry.
“It gives students opportunity to be versatile in many fields of endeavor”, he added.
Access to clean modern energy services has been a challenge facing the African continent but it could be fundamental for socio-economic development and poverty eradication if efficiently explored.
Nneka Ukachukwu
