By David Akoji,
A recent trip to Morocco during the AFCON where light never blinked for the entire period, just got me deeply reflecting; For decades, electricity has remained Nigeria’s most stubborn development bottleneck. From households rationing generator fuel to industries relocating or shutting down, unreliable power has imposed a silent tax on productivity, health, industry, education, and national competitiveness. Despite abundant energy resources, Africa’s largest economy continues to struggle with a paradox of scarcity amid plenty.
The challenges of Nigeria’s power sector are well known but poorly resolved. Installed generation capacity far outstrips what reaches consumers due to chronic, unresolved, transmission constraints, weak distribution infrastructure, liquidity crises, and policy inconsistency. The unbundling of the old monopoly did not automatically deliver efficiency unlike the case in the telecom sector; instead, it exposed governance deficits across the value chain from generation to distribution and regulation. While reforms have come in waves, outcomes have lagged behind expectations.
At the heart of the problem is over-centralisation combined with under-performance. For years, electricity planning, pricing, and infrastructure development were largely controlled from the centre, often disconnected from local realities. The result is a one-size-fits-all approach in a country of vast geographic, economic, and energy diversity. What works for Lagos may be impractical for Taraba; what suits an industrial hub may fail a rural agrarian community.
This is why the current policy shift devolving authority for power solutions to state governments marks a potentially transformative moment. By enabling states to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity within their jurisdictions, Nigeria is testing the promise of true energy federalism. Properly implemented, this decentralisation could unlock innovation, competition, and context-specific solutions that a centralised system has struggled to provide.
However, devolution alone is not a silver bullet. It must be accompanied by a deliberate move toward a diversified power mix. Nigeria’s historic over-reliance on gas-fired generation has left the sector vulnerable to pipeline vandalism, pricing volatility, and supply disruptions. A resilient electricity future requires blending gas with renewables such as solar, wind, small hydro, and biomass—resources Nigeria possesses in abundance but has underutilised.
Northern states, for example, enjoy some of the highest solar irradiation levels in Africa. With supportive regulation and targeted investment, solar mini-grids and utility-scale plants could power communities and industrial clusters without waiting for overstretched national infrastructure. Coastal and middle-belt regions can explore wind and hydro potentials, while agricultural states can harness biomass from waste streams. Diversification is not merely an environmental imperative; it is an economic and security necessity.
The new decentralised framework also offers states the opportunity to rethink electricity as a development tool rather than just a utility. Power planning can now be integrated with industrial policy, urban development, and job creation strategies. States that get it right will attract investment, reduce unemployment, and expand internally generated revenue. Those that do not risk reproducing the inefficiencies of the past at a subnational level.
Yet, risks abound. Not all states possess the technical capacity, regulatory expertise, or financial muscle to manage power markets effectively. Without strong coordination, Nigeria could face regulatory fragmentation, uneven tariffs, and cross-border disputes. This is where federal institutions such as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission must evolve from command-and-control actors into facilitators of standards, consumer protection, and inter-state market coherence.
Transparency and accountability will be decisive. State-led power projects must avoid becoming new avenues for rent-seeking and political patronage. Public-private partnerships should be structured to protect consumers while ensuring bankability. Equally important is citizen engagement: communities must be informed stakeholders, not passive recipients of policy experiments.
The media, civil society, and academia have a crucial role to play in this transition. By interrogating contracts, tracking outcomes, and amplifying evidence-based debate, they can help ensure that decentralisation delivers light rather than heat. Universities and research institutions should support states with data, policy analysis, and capacity building, turning reform into learning-by-doing.
Nigeria stands at an energy crossroads. The old centralised model has reached its limits, but the new decentralised order will succeed only if guided by vision, competence, and integrity. A diversified power mix, anchored in state innovation and coordinated federal oversight, offers a credible path out of darkness.
Electricity is not just about megawatts; it is about power in its truest sense—the power to learn, to produce, to heal, and to hope. If Nigeria can align policy with potential, the long night of energy poverty may finally give way to a brighter, more inclusive future. This is really important because at 62 years and counting, Nigeria deserves constant power supply.
*Dave Akoji writes from Abuja, Nigeria
