Developing an Effective Legal Framework for Renewable Energy Utilization in Nigeria

In order to effectively harness potentials afforded by renewable energy, Nigeria needs to have a robust legal regime that promotes and regulates the development and utilization of renewable energy. Presently, there is no overarching legal framework on renewable energy in Nigeria, making the disparate pieces of laws on alternative energy in Nigeria inefficient. Alarmingly, there is limited support for renewable energy promotion in international law. This means that Nigeria will have to come up with its own laws on renewable energy. On its way to achieving this potential, the country will face several obstacles including the peculiar ones posed by its status as an oil and gas producing state. With an abundance of natural gas in the country and with the potential of this form of fossil fuel serving as a transition fuel, Nigeria is faced with the conflict of jettisoning development of gas reserves over solar, wind and other renewable sources of generation. This article will argue that Nigeria must be able to set up a legal framework on renewable energy that creatively takes these factors into cognizance.