Suleiman Babamanu, Nigeria Program Director at the Rocky Mountain Institute and former lead of Solar Power Naija, has spent over a decade within Nigeria's clean energy transition. In this conversation, he breaks down why legacy approaches keep failing and outlines a technology-enabled, customer-centric alternative: smart metering and data transparency, distributed renewables as an alternative to diesel and grid instability, policy and financing reforms to unlock capital, and building the institutions for long-term transition. This isn't just policy talk, Suleiman has written the frameworks and built the projects.