Candle under bushel

Eleven times this year, Nigeria’s national power grid has failed, plunging the country into darkness yet again, with no clear end in sight. This is not just a series of technical hiccups; it is a glaring failure of a broken energy infrastructure that cries out for urgent reform.

It is clear that the time for passive observation has passed. President Bola Tinubu and Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, must no longer stand by while the nation’s energy crisis deepens. Recall that October 2024 alone witnessed multiple collapses of the national grid. The most significant occurred on October 19, when the grid failed for the eighth time this year.

Regrettably, three of those failures happened within the same week. By October 21, the grid had failed again, leaving the country without power and citizens grappling with the devastating consequences. As of 2:35 p.m. on October 22, the national grid’s hourly generation readings showed a catastrophic figure: none of the Power Generation Companies had a single megawatt of power to supply.

The situation is not new. Between June 2015 and May 2023, Nigeria’s national grid collapsed approximately 93 times under the leadership of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Despite various promises of reform, the power sector has continued to spiral into dysfunction, with each new administration inheriting the same problems without offering lasting solutions.

This persistent failure has led to widespread frustration among Nigerians, whose daily lives are severely affected by constant blackouts and unreliable power supply. The economic costs of these blackouts are staggering. Businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, are crippled by the lack of reliable electricity, while ordinary citizens struggle to meet basic needs.  

Healthcare facilities, schools, and industries all suffer from the consequences of an unreliable power supply, pushing the country further from its potential. Every grid collapse represents lost productivity, increased hardship, and a growing sense of disenchantment among the populace.

The government must invest in modernising the power grid, improve power generation capacity, and diversify the sources of electricity supply. In addition, there is an urgent need for transparency and accountability in the management of the sector to ensure that funds allocated for power generation and infrastructure are used efficiently.

More than just infrastructure, the government must create a clear and enforceable policy framework that incentivises private investment in the power sector. The lack of private sector participation has been a major bottleneck in Nigeria’s power reform efforts. The government should encourage the development of alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power to reduce the country’s dependence on the national grid, which has proven to be unreliable.

The repeated justifications from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) are growing tiresome. Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs at TCN, recently claimed that from 2020 to the present, the country has experienced a 76.47 percent reduction in grid disturbances, with 14 total and six partial failures, compared to the 85 disturbances recorded between 2015 and 2019.

While this sounds like progress on paper, it is hardly something to celebrate. A reduction in the frequency of grid failures from an alarming 85 to 20 is not the kind of success Nigerians were hoping for—what they want is a stable and reliable power supply.

For a nation blessed with an abundance of natural resources, including vast reserves of gas, solar potential, and an extensive network of rivers suitable for hydropower, Nigeria’s energy crisis is a stark contrast to its resource wealth. The issue is not a lack of potential; it is the result of years of mismanagement, corruption, and an utter lack of vision from successive governments. Nigeria’s leaders, in opposition to old age wisdom, keep lighting a candle and putting it under a bushel. This must change.

The sad truth is that, despite Nigeria’s enormous energy resources, the country continues to grapple with erratic power supply and frequent grid failures that stifle economic growth and daily life. Over the past decade, the government has secured loans worth $4.36 billion from the World Bank to address the country’s power sector challenges. Yet, despite this substantial financial commitment, the core issues persist: outdated infrastructure, inadequate investment, and a system that seems designed to fail.

The truth is, the continued failure of the national grid is not merely an inconvenience; it is a symptom of a much deeper problem. The grid is outdated, overburdened, and underfunded. Its components—power substations, transformers, transmission lines—are in desperate need of repair and modernisation. Moreover, there is an urgent need for a shift in the way electricity is generated and distributed across the country. The centralization of the power grid has proven to be a major weakness, especially as regional power demands continue to outpace supply.

To address this, the government should prioritise the decentralisation of the grid by promoting mini-grids and local energy solutions. Establishing decentralised systems in rural and underserved areas can help ease the pressure on the national grid and provide more reliable power to regions that are often neglected. In addition to mini-grids, there is vast untapped potential in renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. The government must take serious steps to harness the country’s abundant solar potential through photovoltaic systems, as well as explore wind energy possibilities in suitable regions.

The solution to Nigeria’s power crisis lies in bold action and forward-thinking reforms. The government must stop accepting grid collapses as an inevitable reality and start prioritising the long-term health of the power sector. With the right investment, policies, and infrastructure overhaul, Nigeria can build a power system that meets the needs of its citizens and supports the country’s economic growth. Anything less will only perpetuate the cycle of darkness and delay the country’s potential.

The time for excuses is over. Nigerians have had enough of empty promises. They deserve a power sector that works — a sector that can fuel economic growth, improve the quality of life, and propel the country toward its potential as a leading economy on the African continent. Without urgent reform and investment, the cycle of grid failures will continue, and the cost to the nation will only grow.