Nigeria’s persistent power outages are unjustifiable despite the country’s vast energy resources, a power expert has said, blaming weak infrastructure, poor maintenance, and systemic inefficiencies for the ongoing electricity crisis.
Millions of Nigerians continue to grapple with unreliable electricity supply, with data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showing that about 140 million people in the country — roughly 71 per cent of the population — lack access to electricity.
Speaking in an interview with RBN, a lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Abuja, Douglas Uke, called for reforms that would allow individuals and households to generate and distribute electricity.
He said adopting net metering systems would enable consumers to both produce and sell electricity, easing pressure on the national grid. “If you generate more than you need, you can sell to the grid,” he explained. “If your own generation falls below what you need, then you can get a rebate.”
According to him, such policies would not only reduce the burden on the grid but also discourage vandalism by giving individuals a sense of ownership over power infrastructure.
Uke identified several longstanding challenges affecting Nigeria’s power sector, including inadequate gas supply, aging and poorly maintained infrastructure, a weak transmission network, vandalism and insecurity, electricity theft, and limitations in hydropower generation.
Despite these constraints, he noted that Nigeria’s natural endowment — including rivers, natural gas, wind, and what he described as “intimidating” solar potential — should position the country as a power-surplus nation.
“We have a very massive energy resource; rivers, natural gas and I will use the word ‘intimidating’ solar potential,” he said. However, he added that systemic inefficiencies and poor management have prevented the country from translating these resources into reliable electricity supply.
He further advocated a shift towards renewable energy and decentralised power generation, drawing comparisons with the United Kingdom. “In about eight out of ten houses in England, there’s always a rooftop solar panel,” he said. “If it could be possible for individual generation, no matter how small, it will help.”
The expert also recommended increased adoption of solar and other green energy sources, encouragement of independent, household-level generation, upgrades to transmission infrastructure, improved gas supply to power plants, and broader deregulation across the sector.
“Nigeria is not supposed to be witnessing anything like blackouts at all,” he said. “The resources we have in this country should be able to give us far more than 20,000 megawatts.” Instead, he noted, actual power generation fluctuates between 3,000 and 6,000 megawatts — far below what is required for the country’s population.
Data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria shows that the national grid recorded no fewer than 105 collapses over the past decade, contributing to persistent blackouts and inadequate power supply across the country.
Report by Godwin Igber