Nigeria’s power sector has been stuck in a holding pattern of failure for three decades. The lights flicker, the grid collapses, and the promises multiply. From Bola Ige under Obasanjo, to Barth Nneji under Jonathan, to Babatunde Fashola under Buhari, and most recently Adebayo Adelabu, the pattern has been the same: bold declarations at the start, and a worse situation at the end.
The consequences are not abstract. Factories have shut down or moved to Ghana, Benin, and Togo where power is more reliable. Manufacturers have shouted themselves hoarse for reform, but the meter keeps running without the current. For small businesses and households, the story is the same. Barbers run diesel generators to power clippers. Frozen fish sellers watch stock spoil when the grid fails. Eateries pass the cost of fuel to customers already squeezed by inflation. Nigeria runs on generators and, for the few who can afford it, solar panels. The national grid feels like a backup.
The immediate past tenure under Adedibu was a low point. Frequent grid collapses and nationwide blackouts became routine. His exit was met with relief, not nostalgia. Now President Bola Tinubu has appointed Olasukanmi Tegbe as the new Minister of Power. At his Senate screening, he spoke with a grasp of the sector’s structural problems that impressed some observers. Knowledge alone has never been Nigeria’s problem. Execution is.
If Tegbe is to restore confidence, he must break with the habits that have defined his predecessors.
First, he should fix the basics of generation and distribution before asking Nigerians to pay more. The argument that tariff hikes alone will unlock supply has been tested and failed. Previous increases delivered no commensurate improvement in megawatts to homes and businesses. Nigerians are not opposed to paying for power. They are opposed to paying for darkness. Tegbe must publish a clear, measurable plan to reduce technical and commercial losses, upgrade dilapidated transmission lines, and enforce contracts between Discos and Gencos. Without metering and accountability, tariffs are just another tax.
Second, the Minister should decentralize and let sub-nationals compete. The 2023 Electricity Act devolved more powers to states. That is an opening. Tegbe should actively support states and private investors to build mini-grids and embedded generation tied to local demand. A barber in Maiduguri does not need 330kV from Kainji to run his shop. He needs reliable 24-hour supply from a grid that can be fixed locally when it fails. The ministry’s role should shift from controlling everything to enabling many players to succeed.
Third, Tegbe should restore trust through transparency. Nigerians don’t know why the grid collapses, who is responsible, or what is being done about it. The Power Ministry should publish real-time data on generation, load allocation, and downtime. Name the bottlenecks and the contractors responsible; and make its performance visible in a way that cannot be spun.
Fourth, gas supply and liquidity should be treated as urgent. Generation is constrained not just by plants, but by gas availability and the debt cycle in the sector. Tegbe must coordinate with the petroleum ministry and regulators to secure firm gas contracts and create a payment mechanism that breaks the circle of debt that starves the whole chain.
The bar is low because expectations have been battered, no doubt. But if Tegbe can deliver fewer collapses, fewer hours on generators, and a clear path to expansion within 18 months, he will have done more than his predecessors. Nigerians are tired of speeches. They want to plug in an appliance and know it will work.
