Nigeria was thrown into sudden darkness on Friday after the national electricity grid collapsed—the first major blackout recorded this year. The outage hit around 1 pm when electricity supply to all distribution companies (DisCos) dropped to zero, leaving homes and businesses powerless.
Data from the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) confirmed that power generation fell to zero megawatts (MW), resulting in a total nationwide shutdown. All major DisCos—including Abuja, Eko, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kano, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Yola—recorded zero load, highlighting the scale of the blackout.
The collapse occurred shortly after reports of high electricity demand in Nigeria’s urban centres. For instance, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company was handling about 639 MW, while Ikeja Electric drew around 630 MW before the shutdown, showing the system was under significant pressure.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which oversees the national grid, has not yet explained the cause of the failure. Restoration efforts are ongoing, but the timeline for full recovery remains unclear. Attempts to reach TCN officials for comment were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
As Nigerians grapple with the blackout, questions remain about the reliability of the country’s power infrastructure and what measures will be taken to prevent such nationwide outages in the future.
