Harnessing Nigeria’s critical mineral wealth: navigating global geopolitics in the energy transition era

The accelerating global shift towards renewable energy has intensified strategic competition for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earths that are essential for batteries, electric vehicles, and green technologies. While much of the existing discourse focuses on countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria’s emerging reserves particularly lithium deposits in Nasarawa, Kogi, and Ekiti states are still under-recognized in policy and academic debates. This study closes this gap by critically assessing Nigeria’s position in the geopolitics of the global energy transition. Using a qualitative research approach based on the concepts of Geoeconomics, Resource diplomacy, and Resource nationalism, the study analyses Nigeria’s mineral resource governance architecture, the role of foreign actors (particularly China, Australia and the European Union (EU)) and the impact on national development, economic sovereignty and regional influence. The findings show that despite its strategic endowment, Nigeria is at risk of replicating Neo-extractive models without a coherent national strategy. The paper concludes that transformative policy reforms, local capacity building, and strategic global engagement are essential for repositioning Nigeria as a major player in the green economy.