Nigeria has increased its electricity generation capacity by 2,000 megawatts (MW) in just two years, a remarkable achievement that previously took nearly four decades to accomplish.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, made this announcement during a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), led by its President, Margret Oguntala.
He pointed out that between 1984 and 2022, Nigeria’s generation capacity grew from 2,000MW to 4,000MW. However, under the administration of President Bola Tinubu, the country has now reached 6,003MW, reflecting a renewed commitment to revitalising the power sector.
While acknowledging the ongoing challenges in the sector, the minister described the increase as a significant milestone and urged Nigerian engineers to play a more proactive role in addressing the country’s energy crisis.
Adelabu challenged the NSE to reflect on why, despite the vast pool of engineering expertise in the country, grid collapses and infrastructure failures still occur.
He remarked, “The NSE was founded in 1958—67 years ago—and yet we are still experiencing grid collapses. We have many engineers in Nigeria, so why is our power infrastructure still in this state? The answer is that something must change.”
He called for a closer collaboration between the NSE and the Federal Ministry of Power, stressing the importance of technical advisory support and mentorship programmes to improve the efficiency of the sector.
The minister also encouraged the training of young engineers to ensure the long-term sustainability of power generation and distribution.
“The Power Ministry and the NSE are naturally linked, but has this relationship translated into tangible benefits for our power infrastructure? We must change that,” Adelabu concluded.