Energy and sustainable development in Nigeria
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Energy and sustainable development in Nigeria
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[ID] => 559773
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[post_date] => 2025-01-03 12:32:54
[post_date_gmt] => 2025-01-03 17:32:54
[post_content] => Practice Passage (Question 1-6)
*This passage is the property of Khan Academy and has been reformatted into an AAMC-style interface in their entirety by MedLife Mastery. MedLife Mastery does not endorse and is not an affiliate of Khan Academy.
Nigeria's energy need is on the increase, and its increasing population is not adequately considered in the government’s energy development program. The present urban-centered energy policy is deplorable, as cases of rural and sub-rural energy demand and supply do not reach the center stage of the country's energy development policy. People in rural areas depend on burning wood and traditional biomass for their energy needs, causing great deforestation, emitting greenhouse gases, and polluting the environment, thus creating global warming and environmental concerns. The main task has been to supply energy to the cities and various places of industrialization, thereby creating an energy imbalance within the country's socioeconomic and political landscapes. Comparing the present and ever increasing population with the total capacity of the available power stations reveals that Nigeria is not able to meet the energy needs of the people. The rural dwellers still lack electric power.
The nature of Nigeria's energy crisis can be characterized by two key factors. The first concerns the recurrent severe shortages of the petroleum product market of which kerosene and diesel are the most prominent. Nigeria has five domestic refineries owned by the government with a capacity to process 450,000 barrels of oil per day, yet imports constitute more than 75% of petroleum product requirements. The state-owned refineries have hardly operated above a 40% capacity utilization rate for any extended period of time in the past two decades. The gasoline market is much better supplied than kerosene and diesel because of its higher political profile. This factor explains why the government has embarked on large import volumes to remedy domestic shortages of the product. The weaker political pressures exerted by the consumers of kerosene (the poor and low middle class) and diesel (industrial sector) on the government and the constraints on public financing of large-scale imports of these products, as in the case of gasoline, largely explain their more severe and persistent market shortages.
The second dimension of Nigeria's energy crisis is exemplified by such indicators as electricity blackouts, brownouts, and pervasive reliance on self-generated electricity. This development has occurred despite abundant energy resources in Nigeria. The electricity market, dominated on the supply side by the state-owned Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), formerly called National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), has been incapable of providing minimum acceptable international standards of electricity service reliability, accessibility, and availability for the past three decades.
Though the peak electricity demand has been less than half of the installed capacity in the past decade, load shedding occurs regularly. Power outages in the manufacturing sector provide another dimension to the crisis. In 2004, the major manufacturing firms experienced 316 outages. This increased by 26% in 2005, followed by an explosive 43% increase between 2006 and 2007. Though no published data exist, the near collapse of the generating system to far below 2,000 MW for prolonged periods of time suggests a reason for the number of outages in 2008 to be very high. This poor service delivery has rendered public supply a standby source, as many consumers who cannot afford irregular and poor quality service, substitute more expensive captive supply alternatives to minimize the negative consequences of power supply interruptions on their production activities and profitability. An estimated 20% of the investment into industrial projects is allocated to alternative sources of electricity supply.
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[questions] => Array
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[quiz_unique_key] => 578908434
[question] => The author argues that the Nigerian government has been unable to provide reliable electrical power to its citizens. Extending the author’s reasoning, which of the following would provide the BEST evidence of an improvement in the Nigerian government’s delivery of electrical power?
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 4
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. It is important to understand the assumptions underlying the article, and how new information may or may not shift the central thesis.
An increase in blackouts and brownouts are failures in power supply and would signify the opposite of an improvement in the government’s ability to provide reliable electric power (option 1.) An increase in installed capacity doesn’t necessarily signal an improvement because the author tells us that there is more than enough installed capacity in place to meet the demand (option 2). The author writes, “Though the peak electricity demand has been less than half of the installed capacity in the past decade, load shedding occurs regularly” (paragraph 4). In paragraph 4, the author talks about the negative consequences that power supply interruptions have on the profitability of manufacturing firms due to having to pay for expensive alternative sources of electricity. From this, a decrease in the profits of manufacturing could be interpreted as a sign that government delivery of electricity is getting worse rather than improving (option 3). A decrease in reliance on self-generated electricity (option 4) implies that Nigerians are making greater use of the government-supplied electricity, suggesting improvement to its delivery. The author uses the term “self-generated” to refer to alternatives to the government-supplied power (paragraph 3).
Option 4 is correct.
)
[answers] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[each_answer] => A. An increase in the number of blackouts and brownouts.
)
[1] => Array
(
[each_answer] => B. An increase in the export of petroleum products.
)
[2] => Array
(
[each_answer] => C. A decrease in the profits of manufacturing firms.
)
[3] => Array
(
[each_answer] => D. A decrease in reliance on self-generated electricity.
)
)
)
[1] => Array
(
[quiz_unique_key] => 3873426850
[question] => In the discussion of Nigeria’s energy crisis, what is the significance of the statement, “The state-owned refineries have hardly operated above a 40% capacity utilization rate for any extended period of time in the past two decades.” (paragraph 2).
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize an accurate paraphrase or summary of the central theme or of particular statements in the passage, or to interpret word choices made by the author.
The author is lamenting Nigeria’s energy crisis and inability to meet energy needs and demands, and never asserts that there is a surplus of refined oil (option 1), which would indicate the opposite of an energy crisis. The author makes no mention of free trade (option 3) and doesn’t argue that the international imports are the primary cause of Nigeria’s energy crisis (option 4), but rather are a consequence of the crisis. In paragraph 2, the author is discussing Nigeria’s failure to optimize domestic energy production. Note that the phrase you are asked about is preceded by the sentence, “Nigeria has five domestic refineries owned by the government with a capacity to process 450,000 barrels of oil per day, yet imports constitute more than 75% of petroleum product requirements.” The author is highlighting that they are unable to make full use of their own refineries to meet demand, and reliance on imports is a byproduct of this problem.
Option 2 is correct.
)
[answers] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[each_answer] => A. Nigeria has a surplus of crude oil.
)
[1] => Array
(
[each_answer] => B. Nigeria has been unable to satisfy petroleum product demand domestically.
)
[2] => Array
(
[each_answer] => C. Nigeria’s domestic energy crisis would be easily solved by free trade agreements.
)
[3] => Array
(
[each_answer] => D. Nigeria’s domestic energy crisis is primarily caused by its reliance on imports.
)
)
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[2] => Array
(
[quiz_unique_key] => 83407773
[question] => Which of the following passage assertions is presented as a reason why the gasoline market is better supplied than kerosene?
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Within the Text” question. These items generally ask you to think about the author’s reasoning, such as what claim an author is trying to support with a piece of evidence, what assumption underlies a specific statement, or whether an argument is flawed.
The question specifically asks about shortages in kerosene. The domination of the electricity market by the state-owned PHCN does not explain this shortage (option 1). The author asserts that kerosene is consumed by the poor and lower middle class (paragraph 2), implying that the consumer base has less political power to influence energy policy (option 2). The outages experienced by firms are used as evidence that electricity supply has been unreliable, not to comment on the kerosene shortage (option 3). Nigeria has unused refinery capacity so this cannot explain the kerosene shortage (option 4).
Option 2 is correct.
)
[answers] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[each_answer] => A. because the electricity market is dominated on the supply side by the state-owned PHCN.
)
[1] => Array
(
[each_answer] => B. because consumers of kerosene are less likely to have the ability to influence energy policy.
)
[2] => Array
(
[each_answer] => C. because the major manufacturing firms experienced 316 outages in 2004.
)
[3] => Array
(
[each_answer] => D. because the Nigerian government has limited refinery capacity.
)
)
)
[3] => Array
(
[quiz_unique_key] => 872728905
[question] => Which of the following recommendations most clearly follows from ideas in the passage:
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 3
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Beyond the Text” question, which means that it wants you to either apply or extrapolate the ideas in the passage to new situations or to assess how new information would impact the ideas presented in the passage. It is important to understand the assumptions underlying the article, and how new information may or may not shift the central thesis.
The issue of government versus private control is not talked about, and almost all of the problems discussed are with government controlled production and delivery of energy, so advocating more government control doesn’t follow at all from the passage (option 1). Similarly, the author never mentions alternative energy sources, like solar and nuclear power (option 2), and although they relate to “global warming”, too many added assumptions are needed to claim that the passage supports this conclusion. The author frames the crisis as needing greater supply to meet demand and never implies that energy demand (i.e., consumption) should be reduced (option 4). Rather, the author focuses on existing energy sources and the government’s failure to optimize those sources and create better delivery systems (option 3). The author writes about state-owned refineries operating below capacity (paragraph 2), electric power failures despite abundant energy sources (paragraph 3), and electricity demand being less than half the installed capacity (paragraph 4).
Option 3 is correct.
)
[answers] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[each_answer] => A. Nigeria would benefit from greater government regulation of energy companies.
)
[1] => Array
(
[each_answer] => B. Nigeria should focus on alternatives, such as solar and nuclear power.
)
[2] => Array
(
[each_answer] => C. Nigeria should more fully exploit domestic solutions to the energy crisis.
)
[3] => Array
(
[each_answer] => D. Nigeria should reduce the total amount of energy that its people consume.
)
)
)
[4] => Array
(
[quiz_unique_key] => 3143847772
[question] => The author’s attitude toward the Nigerian government is best described as:
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 1
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Foundations of Comprehension” question which is asking you to recognize an accurate paraphrase or summary of the central theme or of particular statements in the passage, or to interpret word choices made by the author.
One of the opening sentences of the passage describes the government’s energy policy as “deplorable” (paragraph 1), and the passage repeatedly takes the position that the Nigerian government has failed to meet the domestic energy demands of Nigerians. This conveys a negative and critical view (option 1) of the Nigerian government rather than a neutral (option 2) or sympathetic tone (option 3). The author points out that the state-owned power company has been below international standards for three decades and argues that some of the problems stem from the government not being responsive to the needs of those without “political influence”. Nothing in the passage suggests that the author is hopeful about the government finally enacting potential solutions for these long-standing problems (option 4).
Option 1 is correct.
)
[answers] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[each_answer] => A. Critical
)
[1] => Array
(
[each_answer] => B. Neutral
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[2] => Array
(
[each_answer] => C. Sympathetic
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[3] => Array
(
[each_answer] => D. Optimistic
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)
)
[5] => Array
(
[quiz_unique_key] => 3143847772
[question] => The author uses “great deforestation” in Nigeria to support which of the following claims?
[value] => Array
(
[answer] => 2
[description] => Reason for the Correct Answer:
This is a “Reasoning Within the Text” question. These items generally ask you to think about the author’s reasoning, such as what claim an author is trying to support with a piece of evidence, what assumption underlies a specific statement, or whether an argument is flawed.
The author mentions deforestation as a consequence of rural dwellers burning wood for fuel, and claims they do this because they lack access to electrical power (option 2). Thus, this is separate from the problem of unreliable electrical systems in the urban areas (option 1), or from shortages of diesel fuel (option 4) which is primarily consumed by the “industrial sector”. The observation that imports are greater than exports (option 3) is itself presented as evidence of an overall shortage in domestic production and not a claim supported by widespread deforestation.
Option 2 is correct.
)
[answers] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[each_answer] => A. The Power Holding Company is incapable of supplying reliable service in urban areas.
)
[1] => Array
(
[each_answer] => B. People in rural areas lack electric power.
)
[2] => Array
(
[each_answer] => C. Petroleum imports exceed exports.
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[3] => Array
(
[each_answer] => D. Diesel fuel suffers even greater shortages than gasoline.
)
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[559773|1] => D
[559773|2] => B
[559773|3] => B
[559773|4] => C
[559773|5] => A
[559773|6] => B
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