Distribution companies (Discos) have said that Nigerian will continue to witness national grid collapse except the federal government takes steps to solve the problem, adding that the national grid has collapsed 105 times in the last 10 years.
The spokesperson for all Discos and the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Nigerian Distributors (ANED), Sunday Odutan, said this in response to the countryโs incessant collapse of the national grid.
Odutan said, โIt is true that the national grid has collapsed 105 times in the last 10 years. The last grid collapse that happened a few days ago was because of an explosion of a transformer in Jebba and once the transformer exploded, the load dropped and the system collapsed.
โThe incessant collapse is because of lack of proper maintenance, lack of investment and failure by successive governments to do the right thing over the years.
โWhatever you fail to do in the power sector will catch up with you. What we have witnessed is over the years, government just pay lips service to doing the right thing in the Nigerian power sector.โ
In the last 10 months, the national grid has experienced system failures more than eight times sending the entire country into darkness.
On Saturday, October 19, 2024, major cities like the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kano, among others experienced blackout, making it the third time in a week.
The most recent grid collapse was due to a caused by an explosion on the bus section of a transformer at a 330kV Jebba Transmission.
The ANED CEO, however, said that the national grid will continue the trend because the right infrastructures have not been put in place.
He said it is time for the government and stakeholders in the industry to treat the incidents as a state of emergency.
โUnless we arrest the situation, I am afraid the grid will continue to collapse,โ the DICOs spokespersonย warned.