The national grid in Nigeria on Wednesday suffered another system collapse which resulted in blackout in so many parts of the country. The incessant collapse has been a reoccurring issue in Nigeria, which is said to be the 18th time a nationwide blackout would be recorded in the country this year.
The federal government earlier last month attributed the incessant collapse of the National grid to poor generation by generation companies, Gencos, Low water levels at hydro water plants, and constant attacks on transmission towers.
The government also disclosed that its effort to expand the grid has often been frustrated by communities who deny the right of way to transmission projects.
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Reacting to the recent collapse of the national grid, the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) disclosed that they are currently in talks with the transmission company of Nigeria to ascertain the cause of the collapse so that it can be restored as well as preventing it from happening in the future.
In their words,” Dear customers, we regret to inform you of a system collapse on the national grid at precisely 11:27 a.m today July 20. We are in talks with the transmission company of Nigeria to ascertain the cause of the collapse and a possible restoration timeline. We will keep you updated on the situation”.
Also displeased with the constant national grid collapse is People Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential aspirant Atiku Abubakar who via a series of tweets on Twitter proposed a solution to put a stop to the incessant collapse of the national grid.
See what he said, “I am reliably informed that there was a total national grid collapse at precisely 12:23 pm today. This is one collapse too many. It is the 6th time this is happening in this year alone. Due to the priority that I place on the power sector upon which the successes of other sectors are hinged, I am proposing infrastructure that will involve the facilitation of a review of financial, legal, and regulatory environment to promote private investment in power among the sectors.
”I’ll promote the identification, with tax breaks, a consortium of private sector institutions to establish an infrastructure debt fund (IDF) to primarily mobilize domestic and international private resources for the financing and delivery of large infrastructure projects across all sectors of the economy.
“The IDF will have an initial investment capacity of approximately $20 billion. In addition, I’ll cause the creation of an infrastructure development credit guarantee agency to complement the operation of the IDF by de-risking investments in infrastructure to build investor confidence in taking risks and investing capital”.
The constant collapse of the national grid which often leads to nationwide blackout and epileptic supply of electricity, calls for serious attention with immediate actions taken to curb such problems.
It is appalling and disheartening that this is happening at a time when the country is ravaged by high inflation, hike in the price of diesel and petrol, constant devaluation of the Naira, and high prices of food items.
This has further compounded the woes of Nigerians, making living unbearable for so many households as well as seriously affecting businesses most especially the Small and Medium scale enterprise.
Despite the privatization of the electricity industry with a bid to address the situation, it has only worsened. There are insinuations that the problem of the constant grid collapse has been associated with the leadership at various levels in the country, as a large percentage of them are averse to genuine solutions.
Their lackluster attitude has continued to compound issues, using their positions to stifle any idea that could lead to change. In order to further prevent the collapse of the national grid, there have been calls from experts urging the federal government of Nigeria to switch to alternative energy sources which is now a global trend.
They further disclosed that solar power, hydropower generation, and wind energy should be given the necessary attention and implemented in the country, integrating them into the country’s strategic power plan.