Power generation in Nigeria and the bane of Corruption

“ Oh, I am very weary, though tears no longer flow; my eyes are tired of weeping, my heart is sick of woe” – Anne Brontë

Poor electricity generation with the unabated collapse of the national grid should be a major concern to every Nigerian. One wonders how the country has put up with this malaise, over the years. Our national grid, which is the lifeline of the nation’s electricity generation, has become what the Yorubas call ‘abiku’! The Nigerian electricity sector, managed by one of the world’s largest publicly quoted utilities, and entrusted to serve the electricity need of millions of Nigerians, never fails to live up to its billing as a perennial failure. Our national grid is perennially down! This national failure breaks my heart.

These endless breakdowns have raised perpetual questions that seem to receive no feedback. The question l ask myself is this: on whose curse are we operating? Besides this, shouldn’t we talk about “our” insatiable greed that has become our achilles heels as a people? Certainly, not only the leaders are guilty, even the led are culpable. Truly, those saddled with the responsibility in that sector have demonstrated that they lack the skill and will to deliver the service that Nigerians desperately needed. The problem with electricity supply to Nigeria’s teeming population has lingered for ages with no end in sight.

Tales from that sector have shown repeatedly, that its management is as opaque as the NNPC, and its operations undergirded by selfish interest, wrapped in multi-colored cloaks and disguises. Like their comrade in deceit, Nigeria’s electricity sector has been managed by mafia-kind of clique for decades. Whether state – operated or state-enthroned private operators, the story is the same. They are unmoved by the agony and pain they inflict on Nigerians by denying them access to safe and reliable energy supply, on which contemporary socio-economic life is built, globally.

Their conscience has been seared with red hot iron of selfishness. The major hallmark of responsibility like patriotism, probity and accountability have lost relevance if these virtues ever existed in the first place. The officials as well as contractors are united by greed and corrupt self-enrichment at the detriment of the people’s well-being, and the economic growth of the country. It is business as usual as the supervisory authority too has turn lame duck – no monitoring, no due diligence, they care less about performance records. Anything goes – it’s free-for-all.

The highest authority unarguably, is inexcusably culpable in the sleaze, palm-greasing and knavery across all cadres of administrations by officials and major contractors. These have been the major factors that have rendered the energy sector ineffective and underperforming. Rather than attend to the needful, everyone including the government, turn blind eyes to the plundering of the nation’s resources in the guise of contracted maintenance, that have failed to yield tangible outcome.

Emerging facts, from the government and the legislative arms, as the grid went down again few days into the new year, shows that the energy sector is swimming in a deep ocean of trouble. The incessant breakdown, is a misnomer that has been normalized in a society where the king dances naked. Perhaps interpreted from the disclosure about dismal happenings in the sector, we should condition our minds to it that darkness is a permanent feature of the Nigerian life, at least in the near future!

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It was disturbing that 5 days into the new year, the national grid had, as announced, collapsed for the umpteenth time within a space of 365 days. It is very shameful that the bewildered Power Minister, Adebayo Adelabu, had to disclose to the public that the national electricity grid will remain vulnerable to collapse as a result of government’s inability to repair a key transmission line. He attributed this to the delay in repairs stalled by the insecurity in the northern part of the country where the grid is located. What a confession! A confession that portrays the government as incapable of effective governance or admittance of incompetence! He stressed that the failure is exacerbated by the grid’s fragility, leading to frequent collapses.

Adelabu made the disclosure while speaking during the 2025 budget defense session with the Senate Joint Committee on Power. He highlighted the critical damage to the Shiroro-Kaduna-Mando transmission line, which has been out of service since October 2024 following vandalism incident. As if that was not disturbing enough, the Chairman Senate Committee on Power, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe submitted a damming report which indicted actors in the power sector of practically fleecing the nation and its citizens. His disclosure was stunning to say the least and extremely embarrassing. He stated that the nation requires the sum of $25 million or N42 billion to restart the grid each time it collapses. Scandalous you would say?

The image he presented is alarming. To think that the country lost such a huge sum 12 times last year and will continue the wastage this year, necessitates a judicial probe or enquiry to expose those behind the sordid racket and their sponsors.

Adams Oshiomole, the former Edo State governor and NLC President on the Senate floor, requested the legislature to revisit the government decision on the privatization of the energy sector. Adams slammed the operators as a bunch of inefficient individuals, with no professional abilities who had subjected people to harrowing experiences and fleecing the nation without providing the services while the government that owns majority shares in trust for the public has no representation on the Management boards of these companies. These companies, according to Oshiomhole, are parasites living large on tax payers’ money with the connivance of the power – wielding elites in government. He appealed that only the second arms of the government – the legislators – could liberate the masses from the claws of these unsavory vampires in the country.

With all sense of seriousness, so far, l have not been able to put a finger of discernment on the present administration’s stance on corruption, or any semblance of readiness to combat the scourge. The bunch out there have no credibility whether perceived or real. Leaders are enmeshed in series of grafts and unaccountable expenditure, that leaves one wondering if this nation would ever enjoy breath of fresh air. Government officials have their hands soiled with corruption in every sector, including energy.

The Abaribe reports call for “decisive actions” by the government on the saboteurs including those within and outside the system to pay for their culpability. I wonder which government Abaribe is calling on! Once or twice, a spirited attempt was made by me to have a Nigerian version of Abraham Lincoln epitaphic words “to immortalize heroes of democracy in their land.” We need courageous people who will damn the consequences of cartels and cliques who are bent on continued pauperization of the nation. People of courage who will devote their resources and goodwill to nation building in all sectors while putting the future of the country and welfare of its people as their first priority.

It is regrettable, that in our own depraved situation, personal and parochial interests come first. It is an irony of some sort when spanners are put to enable other factors are thrown that would inhibit the job performance. Yet, we are quick to point our shortest fingers to what obtains in saner climes where due diligence is observed to achieve quality results for the good of all. Our pretensive leaders hardly find the quality governance obtainable elsewhere attractive or desirable in our clime but are quick to make swift reference to the occasional ‘negatives’ in the developed world. Their jaundiced narratives, are deployed as smoke screen, to pull wool over people’s faces to cover their looting and unbridled exploitation, while pretending to serve with equity and justice. I ask, would it not fare better, for us to adopt a narrative that would give clear perspectives on the kind of democracy we practice in Nigeria?

As it were, our democracy can be best described as “government of the corrupt by the corrupt and for the corrupt”. A country where commitment to development is mere lip service. We have not in any way honoured or sustained the legacy of our heroes and their sacrifices for the nation’s development. What we have so far showcased, is contrary to their ideals and ethos. It’s fraud all the way in every sector!.

The fraud in the energy sector is too sickening to gloss over. Abaribe – led team has spoken. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Red Chambers may not be decisive or trusted to act in good conscience, as the headship of the chambers themselves are yet to prove they are above board. For the upper legislative arm to be forthcoming on this, the house must first remove the logs of wood in its eyes before looking in other directions for specks and splinters replete in the system. This report must not be one of the reports to be thrown to the dustbin or consigned into the wastebin of history. It requires digging-deep which we assume would further exhume can of worms that may smear the leadership and those connected with them either directly or remotely.

Careful dissection of Adelabu and Abaribe’s comments unearthed the crux and the unspoken meanings underlining the gaps in the perceived fraud and greed of government officials acting in connivance with contractors fleecing the nation with impunity while caution is thrown to the wind in the process. This is why the fragile grid will never work!.

The Minister acknowledged that grid collapses are likely to continue “but assured that efforts are being made to minimize their frequency and ensure faster restoration times.” The point of the issue which the power anchorman ignored or waved aside is the fact that the system is built on nepotism, deception, and corruption, which had eaten deep into the operational system like a cankerworm and may not allow for effective turnaround if the clogs are not removed.

Late last year, the EFCC Chairman, Olanipekun Olukoyede while playing host to visiting House of Representatives Committee on oversight function to EFCC Headquarters, Jabi, Abuja, cried out on financial crimes. He expressed concern at the rate the national grid collapsed 4 times within the spate of 72 hours. Olukoyede remarked that dubious practices are the major causes of frequent equipment failures, outages and grid collapses. He noted further that the under performance of the country’s budgets in the last 15 to 20 years falling below 20 per cent, is adding to the burden of some of the electricity companies purchasing sub-standard machinery and tools to facilitate electricity supply in the country. This, according to him, has contributed largely to the misfortune of frequent collapses of the national grid. Olukoyede’s worries hinged on poor implementation and execution of capital projects in the country. He added that Nigeria cannot achieve infrastructural or any form of growth under such conditions.

He said “Investigations carried out by the EFCC showed that contractors in the power sector, who were awarded projects to supply electrical equipment often opt for substandard materials. He pointed out that the spate of collusion and sharp corrupt practices of officials in the power sector remain a concern that government must fight seriously. He noted that what the anti-graft agency is grappling with in the energy sector would cause heart attack and make a fair-minded Nigeria to shed tears.

Findings further revealed that Nigeria’s national electricity grid has collapsed more than 200 times in the last nine years, regularly resulting in widespread blackouts. The power outages, prevent people from meeting routine business and household needs, with resultant huge economic and social costs.

In sub-Saharan Africa, every 1% increase in power outages (in terms of hours) has been associated with a 2.86% decrease in gross domestic product (GDP). This translates to a loss of about US$28 billion in GDP. How would a developing nation with this great loss grow to meet up with other top notch-economies in the world?

The pathetic story of the nation’s inability after 65 years of Independence to generate adequate electricity for its population, leaving the nation wallowing in acute darkness, is highly unsettling, and deserves government’s urgent attention. To achieve a turnaround, the government must studiously resolve to find lasting solution to the corrupt practices in the energy sector that have stalled efforts at achieving stable power supply and thus increase the boom of importation of generators into the country.

Should we remain ever a clueless bunch watching our rulers ride rough shod on us while we continue to lament until we all die miserable deaths?

©️ Lanre Ogundipe
Public Affairs Analyst
Former President Nigeria and African Union of Journalists
January 28, 2025.