National Grid: The Constant Collapse Is Catastrophically Cringe-Making

By Bala Ibrahim

For the umpteenth time, the National grid, which is Nigeria’s system for ensuring that electricity is transported safely and efficiently from the point of production to where it’s needed, has collapsed. Yes, collapsed completely. For the whole of yesterday, Tuesday, 15/10/24, day before yesterday, Monday, 14/10/24 and today, Wednesday, 16/10/24, I can say with authority, that the people of some parts of northern Nigeria, Kano state in particular, are in total darkness. These Nigerians were thrown into total darkness pursuant to the nation’s power grid failure. The grid failure was the fifth or sixth this year alone. These frequent failures are not only embarrassing to the nation but turning catastrophic, because, individuals and organizations are reporting losses everywhere.

In some areas, the Federal capital city of Abuja inclusive, light was sighted here and there last night, but even at that, many, including yours truly, are not ready to say uhuru yet. Because of the ease with which these power glitches occur, vis a vis the inconsistencies in the power distribution, no one should be blamed if, he or she says, it’s not yet uhuru.

According to the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, the grid is partially restored. They said Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has received 30MW and Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) received 20MW. But nothing is said about other distribution companies, including Kano, the north’s biggest commercial centre, which is still crying in darkness. As I write this article, people in Kano said the last time they had a glimpse of electricity, was last week.

This is clearly against the spirit and mission of the Nigerian electricity rejuvenation agenda. When in 2013, the power sector was pushed for privatization, the ambition was to improve power supply for individual and business consumption. However, from the look of things, that ambition is indirectly being achieved in the reverse. It seems like, one step forward, two or three steps backward. Those familiar with the industry say grid collapse can come as a result of reasons, such as technical faults, insufficient generation, transmission challenges, or overloading of the grid. But in the light of our experience in Nigeria, I have reasons to believe that human factor is a bigger factor, or greater cause of grid collapse. Some of us have reasons to accuse those saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the availability of electricity, as being the bane for the realization of that ambition.

This human factor belief is loudened by the pronouncement of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who did not even believe that the grid had completely collapsed. In various interviews with the press, the Hon. Minister insisted that there was no total power collapse. He said and I quote:

“There was no grid collapse; there was a trip-off. When you talk of grid collapse, it will involve 100 per cent of our grid infrastructure. But this was a line tripping in certain quarters in the country; even then, the major centres were not affected, talk of Abuja, Lagos, and Ibadan. And this was even restored within two hours.”- Adelabu.

With all respect, I beg to disagree with my minister. He is a minister under the administration of my party, the APC, but I guess, he and I have different understanding of the meaning of total collapse, as well as swift response. According to the law of systemic analysis, when a segment of a system is collapsed, the whole system is collapsed. If, as I write this article, a segment of the country is in darkness, going by the law of systemic analysis, the entire country is in darkness. If we borrow from the sayings of the Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid, in his Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, where he said, “A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, we would see that the happiness of the entire country depends upon the happiness of each individual member state. If one state suffers, the entire country suffers. If one state is in darkness, the whole country is in darkness.

To say that these constant collapses of the grid are cringe-making is nothing but an understatement, because, people are loosing count of their numbers and increasingly loosing confidence in the authorities that pledged to reform and revamp the system. According to the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, the national grid has become a fragile pack of cards, crumbling at the slightest challenge. The group criticized the President for appointing a politician with no expertise in power management to such a strategic role, stating that electricity is the backbone of Nigeria’s economic advancement, small and medium-scale enterprises, and infrastructure development.

“We do not understand why President Tinubu considers it useful to have someone who brings nothing to the table as the Minister of Power. The minister has shown high level of gross incompetence and is unfit for the role. Nigeria has had the misfortune of some of the worst species of politicians posted to the Ministry of Power in the last two decades. Most of them reportedly leave office with one anti-graft case or another, and they consistently fail to provide Nigerians with the electricity needed for industrial and economic growth”-HURIWA.

However, it is particularly pleasing to hear that the Government is bent on carrying out a thorough investigation of the causes of these collapses, with a view to addressing the issue for good. Beyond that, the Government has approved a $750m World Bank funding for the construction of 1,200 mini-grids in rural communities across Nigeria. The good news came from the mouth of the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency, Abba Aliyu. According to Aliyu, 19 million of the 85 million Nigerians without access to energy would be provided electricity under the scheme. He said that Nigeria has the highest electricity gap in the world, stating that the Federal Government was doing a lot to bridge the gap.

Please bridge the gap, because, the constant collapse is getting catastrophically cringe-making.