Nigeria’s Energy Crisis and the Sustainability Question

Abstract

Nigeria’s deepening energy crisis will continue to pose a challenge to the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 despite being the largest producer of oil and gas resources in Africa. With an expanding population of over 200 million people and a rapidly growing economy, the demand for energy has significantly increased over the last decade. However, with a meagre electricity generation capacity of 3 500 to 5 000 MW, only about 53% of Nigeria’s population is connected to the national electric grid accounting for a per capita electricity consumption of 144 kWh, one of the lowest in Africa. To bridge the widening gap between energy demand and supply, millions of Nigerians have continued to rely on unsustainable alternatives such as petroleum-based electricity generating sets to meet domestic, commercial and industrial energy demands. It is against this backdrop that we, by relying on a critical analysis of secondary sources, examined the nature of Nigeria’s energy crisis, the emergent coping behaviour in response to the energy crisis and its impacts on sustainability. We submit that the perennial energy crisis in Nigeria undermines inclusive energy transition and stifles socio-economic growth in the country. Consequent upon this is the emergence of other forms of negative coping behaviour such as artisanal crude oil refining in the oil rich Niger Delta region in which the attendant economic, social, health and environmental implications are most manifest.