Renewable energy literacy, use, and adoption are critical issues of discourse among scholars, corporate bodies and multilateral establishments in Nigeria. This work contributes to the debate by examining how the context relates to the residents of Lagos and Ogun states, two of the country’s most viable political subdivisions, located in the south-western region. Using the multi-stage sampling method, residents respond to the items on the variables of awareness and adoption in five local government areas of each of the states. Results show that the knowledge and awareness of renewable energy and its characteristics are high. Unimpressively, however, these do not translate to a correspondingly high level of adoption or use among the residents – though with noticeable differentials among the two states. This situation puts on the media the responsibility of partnering with the government and private investors in developing aggressive campaign strategies to help transpose people’s knowledge of renewable energy to that of use.