Nigeria’s ‘total system collapse’ causes widespread blackouts

Nigeria is currently experiencing a lot of power outages caused by a complete breakdown in the electricity system.

On Thursday, the amount of power being made went down to zero megawatts.

Only a very small amount of things have been given back, but this is much less than what is usually used in Africa’s most crowded country.

Power supply in Nigeria is not reliable, even though Nigeria produces a lot of oil and gas.

This is the most severe power failure in a year – the electrical system in the West African country broke down at least four times in 2022, and the authorities said it was due to technical issues.

Less than half of the people living in Nigeria have access to steady electricity. Many people rely on generators, inverters, and other alternative sources of power. Most homes and offices don’t only rely on the national grid for electricity.

Nigeria has the potential to generate 12,500MW of power, but usually only produces a quarter of that amount.

According to data from the Transmission Company of Nigeria, on Thursday around 10:30 local time (09:30 GMT), the power levels increased from zero to 273MW. However, this is much lower than the usual daily average of 4,100MW.

President Bola Tinubu, who has been in charge for a little more than 100 days, has promised to make the electricity supply better by letting state governments construct their own power plants.