Ninety Days of Miraculous Countdown to Grid Restoration, Stabilization and Echoes From the Street 

By AVM RTD AKUGBE IYAMU MNSA fsi

Proximity to political correctness and rhetorics does not automatically result in the capacity needed to be triumphant. Nigeria need more bright minds, increased modern equipment to fight electricity poverty because what you feed privately determine how you function publicly.

We all are cognizant of the highly critical and tensed political season where every political office holder is more interested in political rhetorics than the substance of the matter. The words on the streets says there was a recent promise by the minister of power to stabilise the national grid in 90 days without plans, framework and schedule: just plain promise.

Anyone coming into the Nigeria conundrums of electricity grid collapse need to evoke some historical information:

Electricity in Nigeria began in 1896 in Lagos, evolving from small colonial generators to a centralized, currently privatized, yet challenged system. Key phases include the establishment of ECN (1951), the formation of NEPA (1972), and the 2005/2013 unbundling into GenCos and DisCos aimed at privatization, with generation capacity still struggling to meet demand due to infrastructure deficits. There was attempts by past ministers to dissect the

Nigerian electricity sector which faces a chronic crisis characterized by insufficient generation (often below 5,000 MW for over 200 million people), frequent national grid collapses, and weak distribution infrastructure. Key challenges include gas supply shortages, vandalized infrastructure, low investment, and huge liquidity gaps caused by “non-cost reflective” tariffs. Anyway cost reflective tariffs will have to consider the standard of living in the country, minimum wage, unemployment and poverty. The new minister sprouting from overzealous of a new employee to a beleaguered electricity sector allegedly made a promise of stabilization of the grid in 90 days without taking cognisance of the

frequent grid collapses that have created a “normal” state of darkness for many, damaging economic activity and restricting industrial growth. It has forced a reliance on expensive, polluting generators and caused significant, costly disruptions to healthcare and small businesses. Before the voice of the announcer faded, Nigerians reminded the minister that

Nigeria’s national grid has experienced over 105 total or partial collapses in the last decade (2015–2024), resulting in chronic blackouts. Other fineprints of challenges include the frequent failures driven by aged infrastructure, low gas supply, and poor distribution capacity, with 2024 experiencing 12 collapses and continued instability in 2026. It is my strong belief that the overarching goal for the minister is to shift from reliance on a single, fragile national grid to a diverse, regionalized, and renewable-focused energy mix.

Therefore, the way forward for Nigeria’s electricity production need to involve a strategic shift toward decentralization, massive investment in renewable energy, and strengthening infrastructure, largely driven by the Electricity Act of 2023. Additionally, as obtained from other parts of the world, electricity should be willing buyers and willing sellers like the telecom industry. The fraudulent bands A,B,C,D and E need to be reviewed or discarded forthwith as it does not recognise the income and poverty level of the more than 230 million Nigerians. Equally, it does not escalate the resurrection of the fast depleted MSMEs where more than 17 million have gone under from the initial 43 million as at 2023.

The Honourable Minister of Power need to redouble efforts as a country’s electricity development is not a grocery store or supermarket of political correctness and rhetorics in policies. In reality and in a country where generations have be forced to accept darkness as a way of life, an unmanaged expectation would amount to impoverishment, sustained hardship, high energy costs, dilapidated infrastructure and our economic elephant may end up giving birth to a miserable mouse.

AVM RTD AKUGBE IYAMU MNSA fsi

CONSULTANT ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND ANALYST ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES

PRESIDENT ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTITIONERS

WARNING!!!!

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