A Modest Proposal To Reduce Energy Poverty In Nigeria

1.0 Introduction

Energy poverty is the lack of or limited access to energy resources like electricity, gas, fuel, kerosene and diesel(Agba, 2011). In other word, energy poverty occurs when supply of energy services fall below demand or expectations. Energy poverty is lack of access to modern energy services. It refers to the situation of large numbers of people in developing countries whose well-being is negatively affected by very low consumption of energy, use of dirty or polluting fuels, and excessive time spent collecting fuel to meet basic needs. It is inversely related to access to modern energy services, although improving access is only one factor in efforts to reduce energy poverty. Energy poverty is distinct from fuel poverty, which focuses solely on the issue of affordability. Energy poverty is a perennial social problem affecting most developing countries. According to World Bank (2016) about 1.6 billion people (one quarter of

Why has the Nigerian energy sector continued to derail in performance? Nigeria experiences a remarkable paradox – the abundance of energy resources and widespread energy poverty. Only about 40% of the population has access to the country’s grid electricity. About 72% of the population depends on traditional fuelwood for cooking. Despite this, government financing of energy services that benefits majority of Nigeria’s population has been grossly inadequate (Adeyemo 2011). Private sector investments and donor support have not fared better. No doubt the epileptic performance of the energy sector in terms of meeting supply with demand expectations has led to a decline in the living standard of the population and hampered sustainable development in the