It was Sam Wyly, famous American billionaire, businessman and philanthropist that enthused "I'm a monomaniac with one goal: clean air from clean energy." I would unreservedly adopt his view, his unflinching frenzy and uncompromising zeal for clean energy.

We are at a point in time in history where a certain revolution becomes inevitable, something that if we avoid for too long may cost us millions of lives and billions of dollars' worth of property. Human existence has experienced a string of industrial revolutions, starting from the first industrial revolution of 1765 where the steam engines, machines, mechanisation and metallurgy signalled marked development and a transition from an era of working with hands, all the way to the 1870 second industrial revolution that came with the discovery of oil and gas, electricity, chemical synthesis and large factories. The third industrial revolution came with a bang nearly a century later with nuclear energy being one of its prime characteristics. The fourth industrial revolution, which as Professor Klaus Schwab puts it, is a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. The fourth industrial revolution is a technological revolution which is disrupting everything, and more than ever, it highlights the necessity for a fifth industrial revolution, which is the clean energy revolution.

The challenge though, with this revolution that we imagine, is that it is poised against all previous industrial revolutions to ensure sustainable industrialisation and technology. Previous industrialisation epochs were only concerned about development and energy and power, failing to regard the environment and human existence and livelihood. Thus, this revolution is audacious, one that aims at refining systems of energy supply and industry, adopting a clean and green system, reducing the use of fossil fuels as much as possible, and ensuring a reliable, yet sustainable energy supply that is beneficial to big urban cities and small rural hamlets alike. The question now, is, is Nigeria ready for this revolution?

With the hosting of COP 22 last year in Morocco, coined as Africa's COP by some, countries of the world gathered at the historic Moroccan city of Marrakesh from November 7 to 18 for the 22nd session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change where they expressed firm commitment to clean energy in their various jurisdictions. Indeed, that was a major step in the clean energy revolution by Africa. Truly, last year was one of optimism for environmentalists and sustainability practitioners all over the world. The mass acceptance of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by national governments, investors and corporations alike finally showed that global and diverse parties were ready to work together to reduce the threat of climate change and promote sustainable development. Nigeria equally demonstrated clear intentions to be part of this move towards sustainable energy systems, even in spite of the brutal period of recession. Nigeria signed the Accord in September and ratified it in March and fixed its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), committing to reduce its GHG emissions by 20 percent unconditionally and by 45 percent conditionally by 2030. Also, the personal participation of the President in the Marrakesh negotiations and the highlighting of the Ogoni and Lake Chad cleanup at the conference and the commitment to float the 20 billion Naira green bond are all commendable signs of commitment to the clean energy revolution. There still remains more to do though.

The opportunities that exist for Nigeria in the area of clean energy are enormous. The resultant benefits are equally as vast. Nigeria has been blessed with an immense supply of natural resources and renewable energy sources. From the abundant sunshine to the heavy winds this side of the Sahara, to the many water bodies. Onyebuchi in his work, 'Alternative energy strategies for the developing world's domestic use: A case study of Nigerian household's final use patterns and preferences. (The Energy Journal 1989)' estimated the technical potential of solar energy in Nigeria with a 5% device conversion efficiency put at 15.0 x 1014 kJ of useful energy annually. This equates to about 258.62 million barrels of oil equivalent annually, which corresponds to the current national annual fossil fuel production in the country. This will also amount to about 4.2 x 105 GW/h of electricity production annually, which is about 26 times the recent annual electricity production of 16,000 GW/h in the country. Also in their work, 'Urban and Rural Electrification: Enhancing the Energy Sector in Nigeria using Photovoltaic Technology (African Journal Science and Tech)', written in 2008, Chineke and Igwiro revealed how Nigeria receives abundant solar energy that can be usefully harnessed with an annual average daily solar radiation of about 5.25 kW h/m2/day which when accumulated over the course of the year will be about 120,000 times the total annual average electrical energy generated by the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

Also, with a population spanning almost 200 million and farming (both livestock and plant) still being the most common activity, there is a lot of bio-waste that can form a veritable and viable energy source. There is also a lot of waste that can contribute to the waste to energy cycle. The Nigerian energy challenge has its chronicles in the pockets of the country's history, in spite of the rich oil reserves. Perhaps then, it is wise for the country to focus on new, clean and renewable energy sources. As at 2015, Lagos State alone generated 13, 000 tonnes of waste daily and is fast losing landfills for waste. The benefits too, for a clean energy revolution include energy efficiency, increased productivity, a safe environment, reduction in climate change hazards, reducing the energy bill for poor households and a relatively constant supply of power too, because renewable energy sources, unlike the fossils can be developed, supplied and managed locally, even by homes, whether in the rural or urban areas. Even better is the news that generating power from renewable energy sources like solar and wind is now as cheap –and in some cases, even cheaper- as using fossil fuels, and with the current epileptic power supply in Nigeria, clean energy investment is a profitable and feasible option.

An even more compelling reason to make the clean energy revolution a reality in Nigeria is the effect that the fossil fuel industry has had in contributing to the rise in climate change, and the trickle-down effect that has had on livelihood. Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of Nigeria's life, and it is one of the most critical ones affected by the impacts of climate change as it is largely dependent on sunlight, rainfall, temperature and humidity. There can be no successful food production if these factors are not available both in quantity and quality. Invariably their availability it affects the quantity, quality and type of food production as well as production-related income. Thus food availability, accessibility, utilization and systems stability are equally affected because of the dynamic interaction between bio-geophysical and human environments. Also, farming seasons, storage and production are affected due to uncertainty in weather conditions. The recent incidents of major flooding in coastal cities in Nigeria are also pointers to the effects of climate change as resulting from fossil fuels. Also the many health hazards that have resulted from gas flaring and oil spills as well as loss to home and livelihood cannot be quantified.

For Nigeria to achieve its clean energy goals however, it must do a lot more than it is doing now. There is no gainsaying that the world is playing catch-up to the damning effects of climate change. Nigeria must show a stronger political will and commitment to achieving its INDC's. It must also encourage private sector investment in the renewable energy industry. It must act like this is a revolution, and work hand in hand with non-profits, CSO's, CBO's and other organisations in mainstreaming the knowledge of clean energy. It must reduce its dependence on fossils, and re-invest from the fossil profits into the renewable energy sphere like Norway and its other Scandinavian cohorts.