Nigeria’s ambitious push toward renewable energy could be creating a new wave of inequality in the communities meant to benefit from the transition, a new study has warned. While the country is investing heavily in solar power, mini-grids and other cleaner energy solutions to tackle its long-standing electricity crisis, researchers say some communities are already paying a hidden price through land loss, inadequate compensation and limited participation in decision-making.
Nigeria’s energy transition is being driven by major policies, including the Electricity Act, Energy Transition Plan and National Energy Master Plan. The government aims to achieve universal energy access by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2060, with renewable energy playing a central role. The country’s transition plan envisages adding about 5.3GW of solar capacity annually, while an estimated $410 billion in additional investment is required to implement the wider plan. Programmes such as the World Bank-backed DARES initiative are also expected to expand electricity access to more than 17.5 million Nigerians through distributed renewable-energy projects.
However, researchers say the clean-energy ambition could repeat some of the mistakes associated with Nigeria’s oil-dependent economy. A study published by Cambridge University Press, Energy Justice in Practice: Non-economic Impacts of Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Transition, found that communities can experience significant social and economic harm when renewable projects are developed without meaningful consultation. Lead researcher Excel Obumneme Amaefule said some communities have seen benefits such as improved lighting and longer business hours, but others have faced land acquisition without adequate compensation. The researchers interviewed 10 experts from government, private energy companies, civil society and international organisations, with all respondents reporting examples of energy injustice during project implementation.
The study identified weaknesses across four key areas of energy justice: procedural, distributional, recognitional and restorative justice. It found that community participation is often late and largely top-down, while the value created by energy projects may not remain within host communities. Researchers also warned that critical minerals and other resources needed for the energy transition could be extracted from Nigerian communities and exported for processing without enough economic value being retained locally. The study further noted that reparative justice received only 26% of the possible maximum across eight major Nigerian energy-transition policy documents, highlighting the gap between government commitments and what communities experience on the ground.
Researchers are now calling for Nigeria to make fairness and accountability central to its renewable-energy strategy rather than treating them as an afterthought. Their recommendations include earlier community involvement, stronger compensation and livelihood-restoration systems, better regulation of renewable-energy waste, local manufacturing and skills development, independent compliance audits and greater transparency around land acquisition and project performance. For Nigeria, the message is clear: expanding renewable energy cannot simply be about installing more solar panels or attracting billions of dollars in climate investment. If communities are excluded from decisions and left to carry the costs, the country could end up reproducing the same inequalities it is trying to leave behind.
source: nairametrics
