Nigeria’s Grid Collapses Again, Plunging Nation into Darkness

Nigerians endured widespread blackouts on Monday afternoon, December 29, 2025, as the national electricity grid collapsed yet again, reducing power supply to a mere trickle nationwide.​ Real-time data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) captured the dramatic plunge from over 2,000 megawatts around 2 p.m. to just 139.92 megawatts by 3 p.m., with total output hitting a low of 50 megawatts.​ This latest failure crippled homes, businesses, and critical services from Lagos to Kano, forcing many to fire up expensive generators amid soaring fuel costs.​

Incident Breakdown

The collapse echoed Nigeria’s chronic grid instability, where a single generator trip often triggers a cascade of failures across the system.​ At 3:12 p.m., distribution figures showed Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) receiving 30 megawatts and Abuja DisCo at 20 megawatts, while Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Yola DisCos got zero allocation.​ By 3:50 p.m., slight improvements appeared—Ibadan at 80 megawatts, Abuja and Benin at 20 megawatts each—but most regions stayed dark.​

Neither the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) nor the Federal Ministry of Power released an official cause or restoration timeline by late afternoon, though the Nigerian National Grid reported recovery efforts underway.​

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This incident marks another in a string of at least a dozen grid collapses in 2024 alone, rooted in aging infrastructure, vandalism, gas supply shortages, and transmission lines handling far below the 13,000-megawatt installed capacity.​ Economic losses mount from disrupted commerce and healthcare, while public anger grows over unreliable power in Africa’s most populous nation. Experts call for accelerated reforms, including Siemens-led modernization projects, to break the cycle of blackouts.​ Restoration remains partial, with full recovery uncertain as of press time.