Osinbajo spotted with Goodluck Jonathan’s minister in Zambia (photos)

– Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is representing Nigeria at the ongoing African Development Bank (AFDB) annual general meeting in Lusaka, Zambia

– The AFDB president is Nigeria’s former minister of agriculture, Akinwunmi Adeshina

– Adeshina served in the cabinet of former president Goodluck Jonathan where he was praised as the most outstanding minister

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been pictured with Nigeria’s former minister of agriculture, Akinwunmi Adeshina at the ongoing African Development Bank (AFDB) annual general meeting in Lusaka, Zambia.

Osinbajo and Adeshina pose for a photograph

Adeshina emerged the head of the African continent’s most influential bank, after serving under the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

Osinbajo and Adeshina in a discussion

Osinbajo who is representing Nigeria at the meeting, assured that African leaders would give priority to urgent matters of development including the use of fossil fuels and coal to generate power, while also attending to important issues around climate change.

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Osinbajo made the remarks while speaking at the high level roundtable organised by the AFDB on the theme: Energy and Climate Change.

His words: ”For us, priority today is development and we have to take development seriously. We are faced with a very dire situation and in most of Africa we simply don’t have power and without power there is very little that can be done.”

He restated the importance of renewable energy, saying “we think that renewable energy and all of the concern about Climate Change are important, but we must prioritise development.”

Osinbajo said Nigeria as an example is one of the major hydro-carbon enriched countries, and that makes fossil fuels important. “We have to leverage all that we can get from fossil fuel, coal is also important.”

But he explained that the arguments about renewable energy are well-noted and Nigeria has the capacity for, and is going to tap into solar energy, yet he stressed that “we are dealing with a major (developmental) problem.”

Asked by the moderator if he meant that African leaders would rather get energy now and worry about environment later, Prof Osinbajo further stated that “it is possible to work on both together,” even while prioritizing development.

He said what African leaders are asking from the developed countries, is for instance, the technology to make clean coal.

“We think that we must use our fossil fuel to the maximum, we must use our coal to the maximum, and we simply call on the support of the developed nations that are aggressive about reducing emissions, especially in coal power plants to give us the technology that is required because obviously there is available technology to make coal clean and we simply call upon them to give us that technology,” the vice president said.

READ ALSO: Fuel Hike: President Buhari had no choice – VP Osinbajo

The vice president is also expected to speak on the high level panel on Jobs for African Youth-Turning the Demographic Dividend into Economic Dividend.

He is expected back in Abuja today, May 25 after the meeting.

The post Osinbajo spotted with Goodluck Jonathan’s minister in Zambia (photos) appeared first on Nigeria News today & Breaking news | Nigerian newspapers | Read on NAIJ.COM.

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