The power grid in Nigeria has been completely shut down by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) due to an ongoing strike by organized labour, resulting in a blackout across the country.
Ndidi Mbah, the TCN General Manager for Public Affairs, revealed in a statement made available to Africa Health Report (AHR) on Monday, that a shutdown took place around 2:19 am on June 3, 2024. This comes at a time of increasing tensions between the Federal Government and labour unions due to lingering disputes regarding the National Minimum Wage Act and increases in electricity tariffs.
According to TCN, “The national grid shutdown occurred at about 2:19 am this morning, June 3, 2024. The labour union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide.”
The unions, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, initiated the strike over the government’s failure to finalize and pass a new minimum wage law and to revert the electricity tariff to N65/kWh. The industrial action has led to significant disruptions in power generation and transmission across the country.
The TCN reported incidents of violence at several transmission substations, with staff members being assaulted. “At about 1:15 am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room, and that staff who resisted were beaten while some were wounded,” Mbah stated. “Without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero.”
Key transmission substations, including Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo, were shut down by the labour union. The forced closure of these facilities and power generating units led to high frequency and system instability, culminating in the grid’s collapse.
Efforts to restore the grid began at 3:23 am, starting with the Shiroro Substation to supply electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. However, recovery efforts have been hampered by ongoing obstructions from the labour union.
“We will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide,” the TCN assured in its statement.
