Appraising Nigeria’s Renewable Energy Sector for Sustainable Development

The need to evaluate and reappraise the Nigerian Renewable Energy Status in in order to position it for sustainable development has become apposite. This is due the dwindling fortune of the oil and gas industry coupled with the environmental pollution associated with the fossil fuels. Besides, the transition to renewable and clean energy sources , has caught up with the global community and no one country is prepared to watch this transition without keying into it . This is due to the many benefits of renewable energy resources which include sustainable environmental development, climate change protection, poverty eradication, increased multilateral funding, health and safety in energy producing environments. Nigeria has not done much in terms of developing its renewable energy industry by tapping into its abundant clean energy types, beyond policy statements legal rhetoric. Further, investment in renewable is huge and requires up- front capital. The benefits of such initial investments comes overtime; hence only few national governments would prefer to commit to huge investments, which benefits or return on investment, would take years of waiting and maturity .Thus, Nigeria has not and is not prepared for such a longterm renewable energy development and this has not only engendered energy crisis but poor economic and human developments.The objective of this paper is to appraise the Nigerian renewable energy status and this is with a view to promoting a sustainable energy culture in line with the global transition from a highly energy intensive and carbonized economy to an energy efficient culture. This paper also aims at unveiling various governments’ policies and legal frameworks in promoting renewable industry for sustainable development. Through a historical and analytic framework, that links the power sector with renewable energy development, the paper recommends for the deepening of renewable energy policy and legal frameworks for effective sustainable development in Nigeria