SOMETIME in 1989, we experienced a power surge at our home in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. The voltage was so high and it came so suddenly that it caught all of us in the neighbourhood unawares. Light bulbs were going off like Yuletide firecrackers, what we called bangers.

Someone in our house had the good sense to rush to the metre, and pulled out the circuit breaker (what we call cut-out here). This was followed by an outage — a complete blackout. The following day when power supply was restored, my late father, Chief Adewale Adekoya (1933-2017), spent what was then a huge sum of money to replace burnt-out bulbs and repair the household refridgerator.

Regretfully spending his hard-earned money on a mini-disaster that he had no hands in, he expressed the hope that electricity supply in our dear country would be reliable in the foreseeable future. It was a forlorn hope as the power situation, despite privatisation, never improved. In fact, it can be said that it has gone from bad to worse. Between 2017 when my father died and 2023, the national power grid has collapsed a whopping 46 times, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.

This year 2024 alone, it has already collapsed twice. It collapsed first time this year on Sunday February 4. Last Thursday, March 28, at about 4.30 pm, it collapsed again, throwing millions of homes and businesses into darkness.

Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, indicated that the grid collapsed at about 4:00 pm, and dropped from 2,984 megawatts, MW, to zero in one hour, with all 21 plants connected to the grid ceasing operations by 5:00 pm of that day. Many of the distribution companies said that their feeders were rendered inactive, resulting in widespread blackouts across the country.

According to experts, there are currently 23 grid-connected generating plants in operation in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, with a total installed capacity of 11,165.4 MW and an available capacity of 7,139.6 MW. Most generation is thermal-based, with an installed capacity of 9,044 MW (81% of the total) and an available capacity of 6,079.6 MW (83% of the total). Hydro-power from three major plants accounts for 1,938.4 MW of total installed capacity (and an available capacity of 1,060 MW).

Actual electricity supply has been significantly less than load demand. For instance in 2014 and 2016, the actual supply lagged behind the power demand by 21,639MW and 23,401MW respectively, representing about 15% and 17% of power availability.

What is significant about the power sector narrative in Nigeria is that the power from all the 23 generating companies, GENCOs, is transmitted by one entity: the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TRACON. There is widespread belief that much of the problem with the Nigerian electricity conundrum has to do with distribution. I tend to agree. It beats me how one company has the responsibility to distribute the power generated by 23 companies. Whoever designed this system must have motives other than national development and energy self-reliance.

I am not an electrical engineer, but I wonder why we build houses, wire them and have separate switches for overhead lights, household appliances like television, fridges, fans, etc. Why not a single switch for all of them so that anytime and at all times, they are all on, and when you switch off, they all go off? Why is there an insistence that all electricity generated in Nigeria be transmitted centrally by one entity? So when we complete Mambilla Hydro Power Station now, the electricity from there will still go to a central switch? Even if we diversify into solar, power from solar farms will also go to the same central switch? How can this continue to work?

This is where the politicians come in. There must be concerted political thought directed at solving the power problem. It should be possible to have smaller grids dedicated to specific areas. Since we already have geo-political zones, it should be possible to have transmission grids dedicated to each of our geo-political zones, instead of a central switch that collapses every now and then and visits energy anguish on everyone.

Our dear country is one of the most under-powered countries in the world, with actual consumption 80% below expectations based on current population and income levels. We have created a unique generator economy; experts say countless diesel and petrol generators of varying capacity account for nearly 14GW of electricity used in the country. We cannot continue with this situation. Unfortunately, the faction of the power elite running government at present seems to have priorities in other areas, even if those priorities have to do with fuel energy. It is time for a holistic solution. Solving the energy conundrum will go a long way in relieving the average Nigerian of the heavy economic burden he/she is carrying.

NOTE: This was written 48 hours before a new tariff was announced for electricity consumers, with tariff for Band A customers hiked by 230%. Topic for another edition.