1 week Ago By Chidi Ugwu
On October 22, 2024, a sudden power outage plunged 17 states in Northern Nigeria into darkness, affecting millions. This unprecedented blackout was triggered by a fault in the 330KV Ugwuaji–Apir transmission lines, leading to a loss of 468MW. There is hardly any doubts that the incessant grid collapse in Nigeria has unleashed a wave of despair on the nation as it disrupts daily lives, cripples businesses, and pushes residents to the brink of survival.
The nation’s national grid on Thursday suffered another collapse resulting in widespread blackout, the second in three days. At 11:30 am local time, power generation dropped to zero megawatts, affecting all 22 power plants nationwide, according to the Nigerian System Operator data. In 2024, the national grid has collapsed 10 times as of November 5, with significant incidents occurring in February, March, April, July, August, and October.
The frequency of collapse has been a persistent issue, with 93 recorded collapses during the previous administration from June 2015 to May 2023. Since the privatization of Nigeria’s power sector in November 2013, the national grid has collapsed approximately 105 times. This includes 93 collapses during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and 12 under President Bola Tinubu as of late 2024.
For Nigerians, grid collapse has become an unwelcome norm. With each failure, the economy bleeds, and frustration mounts. What’s driving this vicious cycle, and when will the country break free from the shackles of power uncertainty?” Power Disruption In The North A power grid is a network of electrical transmission lines that connects several generating stations to loads spread across a large area.
Generator stations, transmission lines and towers, and individual consumer distribution lines comprise the power grid. At a recent public hearing organized by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) the frequent grid’s failures were attributed to aging infrastructure, poor maintenance, vandalism and insufficient power generation capacity. Northern Nigeria is perhaps the hardest hit in recent times with the unprecedented power blackout, which began on October 22, 2024, leaving millions of residents struggling to cope with the disruptions to their daily lives.
The disruption of electricity supply to the northern part of the country was attributed to the vandalization of the Shiroro-Kaduna transmission line, the major line that supplies electricity to the North. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) explained that insecurity had delayed repairs but assured it was working tirelessly to restore the bulk power supply. President Bola Tinubu also directed TCN to expedite repairs and mandated the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to provide security support.
Providing an update at a recent briefing, the TCN Managing Director, Sule Abdulaziz, disclosed this development a said the company had deployed its engineers to complete the restoration and is set to distribute approximately 500 to 600 megawatts to the northern region by Sunday. Abdulaziz said: “When the Shororo-Mando line was destroyed, the other gateway used to feed the northern part of the country was using Ugwaji-Apir line. But unfortunately, that line was also vandalized.
Restoring one of these lines will allow TCN to wheel about 400MW of power through that corridor. TCN is also intensifying efforts to repair and restore the second line on Ugwuaji-Apir by Sunday, 3 November, 2024. This will enable TCN to wheel a substantial quantum of power from Apir to Jos, Kaduna, and Kano.
” He added: “When this incident happened, efforts were made by using local vigilantes who confirmed a snap conductor on a tower, but they could not identify the tower number. Arrangements were made to use the local group to escort our engineers in the night to effect repairs to evade the bandits in the location. Unfortunately, we did not succeed because the bandits got wind of our intentions and laid siege to the area.
” As a result of this situation, the TCN MD stated that engineers conducting the line repair work under strict supervision from security personnel leave the site by 6 PM every day. Across the affected areas residents lament saying the incident has disrupted all facets of their daily life. Patients at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Kano said mosquitoes disrupt their sleep, especially at nights when the power from generating sets is off.
Malam Umaru Direba, a patient, stated that the absence of electricity worsens the mosquito problem, forcing him to rely on mosquito nets and repellents. A hospital official noted that AKTH spends around N500,000 daily on diesel, limiting generator use mainly to evenings, although solar inverters help keep emergency services running. Outside the hospital, frozen food vendors like Husseini Rufai and Salihu Usman at Tarauni market report losses, saying they are unable to store perishable goods without electricity.
The Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO)’s Chief Commercial Officer, Abubakar Jimeta, attributed the prolonged outage to issues on the national grid and vandalism on critical transmission lines and assured that efforts to restore supply are underway. Muhammad El-Kabeer, a frozen fish dealer, said the ongoing power outage has heavily impacted his business, as he now relies on a generator set, which significantly raises the cost of his products. El-Kabeer stated that he runs his generator set for about six hours to keep the fish fresh but that the high cost of fuel has pushed up the prices of frozen fish, reducing customer demand and, consequently, his income.
Danladi Idi, who sells fish at Gombe Main Market, said: “If the power situation isn’t resolved soon, small vendors like me may soon be out of business, as we can no longer return unsold fish to the dealer as before. The blackout has also affected rice milling businesses. Malam Umar Musa, a rice miller on the southern bypass of Gombe, said operations have come to a halt.
“We have had to send several youths home for the past five days, waiting for the situation to improve,” he said. Bashir Abdullahi, a resident of the Bayan Kara area in Birnin Kebbi, said his frozen food business in Gesse has been severely impacted by the ongoing power outage. “We have endured significant losses.
My entire stock of fish and chicken spoiled because I couldn’t keep the freezers running without a generator,” he lamented. He also said the community transformer was vandalised, and while the police apprehended the suspects and the buyer of the stolen cables, they were later released by the court without penalty. Timber traders and artisans in Jos, Plateau State, said they recorded substantial customer losses due to the prolonged power outage.
Abubakar Salihu, a timber trader at Jos’ Timber Market, said: “This is usually a busy market, but today, it’s empty. We come to the market, wait, and then return home. Without power, we can’t operate the machinery needed for timber work, and the situation is taking a toll on us.
” The Blight Of Vandalism Meanwhile, hoodlums have vandalised electrical transformers in communities like Anguwan Rogo and Gangare in Jos North Local Government Area. Muhammad Munir, a Gangare resident, said: “They vandalised our transformer, stealing crucial components that will require substantial funds to replace.” Alhaji Bala Tanko of Anguwan Rogo reported a similar incident, noting that “Hoodlums took advantage of the blackout to steal wires from our transformer, leaving us in darkness for over six days.
” In response, the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JED) has urged residents to safeguard electrical installations. The ongoing power outage has hit small businesses and households hard in various parts of Kaduna, impacting livelihoods and daily life. Halima Mu’azu, a resident of Hayin Bello in Rigasa, said her mother’s business of selling kunu and zobo drinks has suffered.
Moreover, transformer vandalism has added to the community’s challenges. Residents of Hayin Bello in Rigasa reported that their transformer was vandalised at night, compounding the electricity woes. Community leader, Alhaji Ibrahim Fagge said they are pooling funds to repair the transformer as the blackout may persist even if the main power supply returns.
Friday Ejembi from the Obotu-Ugboju community in Otukpo LGA expressed frustration over being without electricity for over ten days. Artisans and business owners are increasingly concerned about their sustainability as fuel prices hover between N1,200 and N1,250 in Makurdi. Mwuese Terkula, a frozen fish seller in Gboko LGA, voiced her worries about the future of her business: “Without a stable electricity supply, I can’t store fresh supplies in my freezer.
If this situation continues, I may have to shut down my business altogether.” Milling machine operators in Bauchi have been especially hard-hit, unable to process grains into flour, which has left many families without essential food staples. Alhaji Sani Abubakar, the Chairman of the Fresh Tomato, Pepper, Onion and Vegetable Sellers Association, said: “Patronage has dwindled over the past month.
Customers aren’t buying in large quantities, and some of our goods have decayed due to the lack of electricity.” In Adamawa, residents like Hajiya Asma’u from the 80 Units Housing Estate in Jimeta have suffered losses of perishable goods worth thousands of naira because of the outage. Blessing Tunoh, the Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) Communications Officer, noted that the company recorded 37 cases of vandalism in the first quarter of the year.
In Yobe State, the situation is not better. Commercial water vendors in Damaturu are capitalising on the water crisis, selling water to the highest bidder as more than 70% of residents rely on commercial boreholes connected to electricity. In Taraba, Mallam Yunusa Adamu, a butcher in Jalingo, reported substantial financial losses as a result of the power failure, which rendered the cold rooms and facilities at the Jalingo Abattoir and main market inoperable.
In response to the ongoing challenges, residents of Taraba State have called for a connection to the Kashimbila hydropower station, which has an installed capacity of 40 megawatts, hoping it could alleviate their electricity supply issues. In Borno, the situation is similarly dire. Ice block seller, Malam Lawan Kawu expressed frustration over the power failure, noting that he cannot afford the rising costs of diesel or petrol to power his generators, adding that the extraneous cost from generator use makes his products unaffordable for customers.
In Nasarawa State, residents like Aisha Umar expressed frustration over the inconsistent power supply affecting their homes and businesses. Engr. Baro Ahmed, the Regional Manager of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Lafia, recently revealed that Nigeria is currently generating only 4,000 megawatts of power, which he described as “grossly inadequate.
” As a result, areas like Lafia, which used to receive around 20 megawatts daily, are now receiving only 7 megawatts. In Kwara State, the situation at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) highlights the dire consequences of the power crisis, particularly as the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has compounded the problems. Except for the emergency unit and some records offices powered by generators for limited hours, most parts of the hospital complex remain in darkness.
Overwhelming Challenges However, the Federal Government has assured of its commitment to speed up the pace of work to restore electricity to all the affected states in the Northern region of the country. Last week, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, announced that electricity would be fully restored to the region within the next 14 days. This implies that the region comprising 17 states will remain in blackout till Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
Adelabu, while responding to questions from senators at the National Assembly, also said partial restoration would be completed within the next three days. Adelabu added: “We are working with security agencies to access the grid would currently occupied by vandals. I assure you that within the next 14 days, the repairs will be completed, and power will be fully restored to the North.
” This declaration, however, contrasts comments made by the relevant agency in charge of the repair. Earlier, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, stated that the ongoing repairs to the damaged transmission line that led to a blackout in northern Nigeria will be completed in the next five days (November 3, 2024). It noted, however, that alternative measures have been implemented to transmit 400 megawatts to certain areas within the next 24 hours.
The Managing Director of TCN, Sule Abdulaziz, disclosed this development at a press briefing in Abuja, updating Nigerians on efforts to restore electricity to the northern region. He also stated that a siege laid by bandits significantly hindered initial attempts to repair the vandalised 330kV Shiroro-Mando Line 1, and this disruption ultimately led to the collapse of several other towers along the line. On Monday, governors of the 19 northern states called for the diversification of energy following persistent blackouts in 17 states of the region recently.
Apart from Niger and Kwara, 17 states in the North are without electricity supply in the last two weeks. The worst affected are Kaduna, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe and Katsina, which have not had a supply in the last two weeks. However, in the bid to nip in the bud the incessant grid collapse, experts have proffered solutions, including the need to fortify the existing grid systems which is known to be very weak due to ageing of the infrastructure.
Experts are also calling for alternative energy sources to reduce pressure on the national grid. Ifeanyi Ukuwuoma, CEO of Powerfull Technology Limited, emphasized the need for renewables. He explained: “Diversifying energy sources is another crucial step.
The government should focus on promoting renewable energy sources like solar and wind, which can be distributed throughout the grid. By integrating these renewable sources, the energy supply becomes more resilient and less reliant on traditional methods, helping to meet growing demand and reducing the risk of imbalances that lead to grid instability.” Babatunde Osadare, a senior official at Ikeja Electric, also emphasized the importance of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system: “Collapse may happen when the frequency is too high or low due to real-time energy demand and generation.
Difficult to balance without SCADA tools that help with real-time grid monitoring. “Work has started here. It was partially launched a few weeks ago.
If the SCADA system is finalized and there is an independent system operator, things will be better except for continued alleged sabotage.” Collaborating Osadare, Habu Sadiek, power sector analyst, said the SCADA system will make it easy for the S.O.
to react faster and save the grid from collapsing. Power consultant and energy expert, Ayoola Oginni, pointed out that decentralizing the grid is critical to reducing failures. He said: “The Nigerian government should speed up efforts to decentralize the national grid.
This can be through mini-grids driven by renewable energy sources like solar photovoltaic and wind turbines.” Oginni explained that issues like overload, outdated infrastructure, and vandalism contribute to grid instability. He urged the government to approve a new constitutional amendment to allow states to generate and transmit their electricity.
“The government should approve the constitutional amendment bill to allow state governments to generate and transmit their own electricity. This presents an opportunity for investors and industries to participate in the Nigerian energy market. Also, the states or businesses can transmit excess supply to the national grid.
Micro-grid projects could also expand to send excess power to the national grid,” he added. The recent power outage in Northern Nigeria has laid bare the fragility of the country’s electricity infrastructure, exposing deep-rooted issues that require urgent attention. As millions grapple with the consequences of this blackout, the need for a comprehensive strategy to enhance grid resilience becomes increasingly clear.
Stakeholders must prioritize investment in modernizing infrastructure, improving security against vandalism, and diversifying energy sources to prevent future crises. Only through collaborative efforts can Nigeria hope to restore stability and ensure that its citizens no longer endure the debilitating effects of power failures on their daily lives and livelihoods..
