By Muhammad Mamman
Nigeria’s fragile electricity grid suffered yet another collapse on Wednesday, sending power generation tumbling from 2,917.83MW to just 1.5MW within an hour.
The failure, which occurred between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., left nearly all Distribution Companies (DisCos) nationwide without supply. According to updates posted by the Nigeria National Grid X handle (@NationalGridNg), only Ibadan DisCo recorded a minimal allocation of 20MW, while all others dropped to zero.
“System restoration is in progress,” the grid operator announced shortly after the incident.
The breakdown effectively shut down power distribution across Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and other major cities, highlighting once again the country’s chronic struggle with grid stability.
“Disco load” refers to the megawatts allocated from the national grid to each DisCo for onward distribution to consumers. As of press time, no DisCo had issued a formal statement on the disruption.
This marks the latest in a string of collapses that have plagued Nigeria’s electricity sector, often blamed on ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance, and system imbalances.
Further details are expected as efforts to restore supply continue.
