AFP, Lagos :
Football-loving Nigerians had more than one reason to groan about the country’s opening World Cup game: not only did they lose 2-0, many weren’t even able to see the whole match.
Some viewers complained that seasonal rains affected the signal to the satellite television channel broadcasting Saturday’s match against Croatia. Then, the power went off completely.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said six power plants was shut down to prevent the “collapse” of the national grid following a pipeline failure and unspecified “technical issues”.
For two days, the grid lost 1,087 megawatts of electricity. By Tuesday, generation had recovered to 3,876.9 MW following repairs of the ruptured pipeline.
The TCN said gas was “gradually building up in most generating stations and in a day or two days it is expected that gas and power supply would be back to normal”.
But the widespread blackout, which forced those who could afford it to turn to expensive diesel-powered generators, once again highlighted Nigeria’s perennial electricity problem.
Despite churning out some 1.8 million barrels of crude every day and being Africa’s largest oil exporter, Nigeria can barely keep its light on.
Installed capacity is 7,000 MW but actual production for a country of more than 180 million has hovered between 2,500 and 5,000 MW, according to TCN data.
Economic rival South Africa in comparison generates 45,000 MW for 53 million people.
“In the past 10 years, we have heard our policymakers say their target is… 10,000 MW,” said Obioma Onyi-Ogelle, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, southern Nigeria. This is grossly inadequate because we believe Nigeria requires at least 50,000 MW to meet its needs,” Onyi-Ogelle, who teaches energy and natural resources law, told Africa Check in March.
