Nigerians are once again grappling with widespread power outages following the collapse of the national power grid, marking the third such incident within just one week.
The latest grid failure occurred early on Saturday morning, leaving businesses, homes, and critical infrastructure in darkness across many states.
The Nigerian System Operator’s portal reported that the grid recorded zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 am, with all 22 power generation companies (GenCos) down at the time of this report.
This marks the eighth grid collapse in 2024, further highlighting the nation’s ongoing struggle with an unreliable electricity supply.
The repeated power failures have sparked frustration nationwide, as many citizens and businesses continue to feel the pinch of the unstable power infrastructure.
With blackouts occurring frequently, concerns are growing about the long-term viability of the system and the impact on the country’s economic activities.
As of the time of reporting, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had yet to issue an official statement confirming the cause of the collapse or providing details on the steps being taken to restore power.
This silence has added to the frustration, leaving the public and key stakeholders without answers or a timeline for resolution.
The first national grid collapse of the year occurred on February 4, 2024, when the grid crashed around 11:51 AM, causing generation to drop from 2,407 MW to just 31 MW before a complete shutdown by 1 PM.
Since then, the power sector has experienced several disturbances, contributing to Nigeria’s long-standing electricity challenges.