Nigeria’s national electricity grid reportedly suffered a total system collapse on Tuesday, January 27, plunging large parts of the country into darkness as engineers worked on staged restoration.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) attributed the failure to a sudden drop in system frequency after a gas supply disruption at a major thermal station, reigniting debate over the fragility of national infrastructure.
Manufacturing groups say frequent collapses are driving up production costs as factories rely on diesel generation, while consumers complain about weak communication from distribution companies during outages.
Echotitbits take: Despite huge investment claims, the grid remains Nigeria’s Achilles’ heel. The durable fix is decentralization: states should accelerate independent power markets enabled by the 2023 Electricity Act, rather than waiting on a single national spine.
Source: The Guardian – https://guardian.ng/news/national-grid-suffers-first-collapse-of-2026-generation-falls-to-zero/ 2026-01-27
Photo Credit: The Guardian
