Energizing Health: Electricity Access and the Right to Health in Nigeria.

In this essay, I explore the link between energy access, especially electricity, and human rights, particularly the right to health in Nigeria. Despite its plentiful natural resources, including vast reserves of oil, gas, and sustainable bioenergy sources, Nigeria faces an energy crisis that constrains health care delivery, particularly in rural areas where health facilities lack reliable access to electricity. I analyze Nigeria's recently enacted Electricity Act, assessing its potential to address systemic energy challenges that hinder the realization of the right to health. I balance a doctrinal reading of the act with a rights-based analysis of its capacity to enhance equitable access to energy, recognizing electricity access as a social determinant of health. I further highlight the importance of policy and legal measures to alleviate Nigeria's energy crisis and improve health care access for millions disproportionately affected by the lack of clean and reliable energy. Crucially, the analysis also examines the governance and implementation gaps, such as regulatory coordination, that might prevent the act from ensuring energy is a tool to help fulfill the right to health.