DOI: 10.14457/nida.the.2016.5
title: Issues affecting the uptake of renewable energy sources for rural electrification and development projects in Nigeria

description: How has being a fossil fuel-rich country affected the large scale adoption ofrenewable energy and its associate technologies for rural electrification and ruraldevelopment projects in Nigeria? How is renewable energy and its associatetechnologies viewed by the bureaucrats tasked with the responsibility of providingelectricity for rural communities in Nigeria? What are the dynamics involved inaccepting an alternate form of energy for rural electrification projects in a fossil fuelrich country like Nigeria? These are some of the questions that are of significantinterest to energy experts and observers in Nigeria, and it is believed that knowledgeof the factors at play could help soothe the troubling energy dichotomy in the country– of having an abundance of energy sources but is one of the least electrified countriesin the world.||The aim of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore theperceptions of government officials and experts responsible for rural electrification inNigeria, the seemingly lack of interest in the utilization of the abundant renewableenergy sources for rural electrification projects in Nigeria, and the influence, if any,that fossil fuel has had on the use of renewable energy sources for rural electrification.Following a qualitative research methodology, data on specific issues affecting theuptake of renewable energy technologies in rural electrification in Nigeria wascollected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews across a spectrumof 17 senior federal government executives within various agencies tasked withmanaging the nation’s electric energy sector.||Analysis provided findings which showed that the concept of renewableenergy powered rural electrification was a welcome idea that will only work as aviable option for power generation in a fossil fuel rich country like Nigeria, if built onalready proven strengths of the concept, it can overcome certain generic and countryspecific barriers and misconceptions. It was found that renewable energy needed ahigh level of legitimacy to succeed in Nigeria. Legitimacy as found by the studywould require conscious government participation, increased awareness, seriousadvocacy, improved bureaucratic involvement, and efforts to overcome liabilities ofnewness of the concept of renewable energy powered rural electrification.||It was also found that certain perceptual factors will have to be addressed forrenewable energy to gain a stronghold in the country. These perceptual factors werefound to either be inhibitors or facilitators of the concept of renewable energypowered rural electrification. Internal and external physiognomies of renewableenergy, as well as country specific characteristics associated with it, could also greatlyinfluence the adoption of renewable energy in a fossil fuel rich nation like Nigeria.||In the final analysis, it was found that renewable energy was actuallyrecognized as an important option in achieving rural electrification in Nigeria, andthat the factors identified by this study were already playing different roles in thenation’s energy sector, albeit minute. The issue, it seems, was the absence of acoordinating factor in the form of a champion for the renewable energy course
description: onewho could rally the available resources and current policies to adequate action. It issuggested that having a champion from among the bureaucrats would propeladvocacy for renewable energy powered rural electrification projects more easily andalso help in tying together the rural electrification goals of the Government with thetechnical requirements needed to promote the use of renewable energy technologiesfor rural electrification in Nigeria.