As you read this petition, most Nigerian homes don’t have up 5 hours of electricity in a day. The electricity situation in Nigeria is not just epileptic; it is in a comatose state. In the last week, the national grid has been down about 2 times, throwing the country into darkness and leaving citizens at the mercy of their generator set. 

The nationwide power cuts are happening at a time when fuel prices have jumped and diesel prices are skyrocketing limiting the alternatives for most people. It is led to jobs losses, closure of food processing and manufacturing plants, ruined commerce; the list goes on. The power situation seems like a tale from a horror movie when citizens share their experiences.

Sign this petition to change this narrative and hold the government to account for to its promises to restore the sector.  Obviously, being connected to the national grid does not guarantee electricity supply to our homes and businesses. The national electricity grid- an infrastructure of over 40 years - cannot meet Nigeria’s present-day realities. Therefore, Nigeria needs to prioritize diversifying its energy sources, making electricity supply less vulnerable to disruptions and more available, affordable, and reliable.

In 2022, The Nigerian government launched the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) - Solar Power Naija Programme (SPN) to achieve the rollout of 5 million new solar-based connections in communities that are not connected to the national grid. The initiative is an N140-billion long-term and low-interest credit facility to private sector developers in the business of deploying Solar Home Systems (SHS) and mini-grids in order to rapidly scale up deployments and make energy access more affordable. 

The initiative has not achieved its aim despite the potential impact - under the scheme, 25 million Nigerians will access affordable and sustainable clean energy solutions to households and businesses in rural communities across the country. It is also expected to catalyse the creation of 250,000 new jobs in the renewable energy sector.

The question then is why is this not working? Also, why is the banking sector not funding power projects given that the Central Bank earmarked 140 billion solar power under the ESP.

Sign this petition to get the government to quickly:

1. Fast track the implementation of the 140 billion Solar Power Naija Programme to ensure the adoption of renewable energy solutions in Nigeria's energy mix. We are asking the government to accelerate the adoption of renewable solutions by reducing the bottlenecks providers face importing renewable energy products and accessing finance.

2. Discos can no longer be the only electricity distributors - they should allow alternative power providers to support the electrification process - they don’t have the capacity and infrastructure to power a country of over 200 million people.  Their framework must include mini-grid operators to decentralize power distribution

3. Create a Sustainable Energy Roadmap - that incorporates climate change and renewable energy solutions. 

Secondly, Nigeria’s power sector has many problems but permit me to state that a major problem with power distribution in Nigeria is the transmission. The transmission lines are old and at the point of collapse. Even if more electricity is generated, the transmission network cannot carry additional power loading. The transmission network is designed for peak performance of 3000-3500MW per day.

The present law in Nigeria states that electricity is under the ‘exclusive list’ - only the federal government has the sole right to provide. Nigeria has only has one transmission network, and it is owned, operated, and managed by the Federal Government. While the Senate recently passed a bill to remove electricity from the exclusive list, two-thirds of the state houses of assembly need to sign it, and the president will have to accent to it for it to happen. 

Sign this petition to put pressure on lawmakers to get rid of the law. This will help decentralize power and attract the urgently needed investment to revamp Nigeria’s electricity chain - transmission lines, distribution infrastructure, and overhaul the problematic aspects of power generation. 

#DecentralizeNationalGrid #EndtheDarkness