Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The majority of Nigeria has been plunged into blackout as power supply dropped by 93.5 per cent to 273 megawatts (MW) on Thursday, September 14, following what is reportedly a complete system collapse of the national electricity grid.
According to data from Nigeria Electricity System Operator, the semi-autonomous arm of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), transmission stations, including Afam VI, Dadinkowa, Ibom Power, Jebba, Olorunsogo generated 0.70MW, 0.00MW, 32.90MW, 240MW and zero respectively.
For context, the country recorded 4,182MW on Monday, September 11, and it dropped on Tuesday (September 12) by 59 per cent to 1,705 megawatts.
Although no official correspondence has been made on the matter, the situation is coming at a time when Nigerians are paying more for energy to fuel their businesses and daily activities.
In May, President Bola Tinubu removed fuel subsidies, which cost N4.3 trillion last year, and this has had a ripple effect on petrol prices, transportation costs, and food prices. For instance, the price of petrol at the pump price has jumped from N165 to N589 per litre in the last three months.
Amid this, electricity tokens have also seen increment with surging inflation affecting the cost of power being produced, supplied, and consumed in the country.
The latest inflation rate climbed to a fresh 18-year high on surging transport costs and food prices. The country’s inflation jumped to 24.1 per cent in July, compared with 22.8 per cent in the prior month, according to the data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
