Nigeria is reeling in darkness once again due to the first collapse of the national grid in 2024 on February 4. This recurring nightmare provokes grave concern for the country as its socioeconomic potential is disrupted, its enterprising people limited, and its households entombed in perpetual darkness. President Bola Tinubu and his Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, should tackle this quagmire at its core to provide a good lease of life for industries, businesses, and households.

On February 4, the national grid suddenly crashed to 59.9 megawatts from 2,658MW. The distribution companies were reportedly stifled by the lack of supply from the grid, leaving states like Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Kebbi in utter darkness. A week on, the situation has not normalised.

To sustain themselves, most companies and households rely on costly diesel, and petrol to power their generators, thereby further burdening their productivity. Apart from spending N783 billion on self-generation of electricity in the eight years to 2022, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria says alternative power generation adds 40 per cent to the cost of goods manufactured in Nigeria. In a 2023 note, the World Bank said the economy lost $29 billion annually to poor electricity.

In this, Nigeria suffers from a staggering energy poverty. At night, vast swathes of the country are interred in darkness. The World Bank said 92 million out of 200 million citizens lacked access to electricity as of 2022. In a new dimension, aggrieved women protested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, last week over the prolonged power outage that has disrupted the bliss in their homes.

Despite repeated promises by successive governments to tackle these challenges, tangible progress has been painfully slow. Nigeria has had too many grid crashes to count. Under the erstwhile Muhammadu Buhari administration, the grid collapsed 99 times, despite tranches of financial interventions from the Federal Government. Cumulatively, the sole grid collapsed 222 times between 2010 and 2022.

According to Adelabu, the grid collapse is partly linked to gas shortages. Around this time every year, Nigeria experiences gas shortages. But this excuse is not tenable primarily because, at 206.5 trillion cubic feet, Nigeria’s natural gas reserves are among the largest in the world. Nigeria owns 33 per cent of Africa’s total natural gas reserves. Therefore, this excuse must end.

While Nigeria grapples with generating 12,000MW and transmits 4,000MW-4,400MW, its counterparts, South Africa and Egypt are on 58,095MW and 59,063MW respectively. Both have constantly explored a diversified mix of energy resources, and Nigeria must take a leaf from their book.

Undoubtedly, the sector is dysfunctional. After the dodgy privatisation of the distribution and generation legs in 2013, the Federal Government, which still controls the transmission leg solely, committed N2.8 trillion to the sector between 2015 and 2022. In November, the Tinubu government said it would shoulder the subsidy on electricity. More than seven million consumers lack meters, which means they are being billed arbitrarily.

But Nigerians deserve better to unleash the potential of the economy. Tinubu and Adelabu should unveil a comprehensive road map, including a review of the previous privatisation, to redeem the sector.

The government should privatise the TransyCo to attract investment, and technical expertise.

The sole national grid is a threat to efficiency. Tinubu must do everything possible to break that jinx in the sector.

The state governments should move swiftly to take advantage of the amended Electricity Act 2024, which was recently signed into law by Tinubu to provide power in their domains.

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