Millions of Nigerians are experiencing a dark Christmas due to a severe drop in national power supply. The outage is linked to an explosion last week at a major gas pipeline in Delta State, which supplies fuel to power plants.
The grid operator stated repair work on the damaged Escravos-Lagos pipeline is nearly complete and promised a return to normal supply “soon.” However, on Christmas Day, most homes and businesses remained without electricity.
Data shows the national grid supplied only 3,272 megawatts to distribution companies for the entire country. This amount is insufficient, forcing power companies to implement widespread blackouts and load shedding.
Nigeria’s power generation has stagnated between 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts for over a decade, failing to meet the needs of its growing population. The current crisis highlights persistent failures in the sector, which was privatized in 2013.
Consumer advocates blame systemic failures. They argue the government cannot build a reliable power system on a flawed foundation, noting that fundamental issues were never resolved before or after privatization.
The Minister of Power had previously promised to raise capacity to 6,000 megawatts by the end of next year. This year’s Christmas blackout casts serious doubt on those plans and the sector’s immediate future.
