The nationwide blackout experienced in Nigeria for days now is still whipping up reactions with the latest coming from Adebayo Adelabu, Bola Tinubu’s Minister of Power, who distanced the blackout from the collapse of the national grid.
It all started on Monday evening.
Nigerians were busy complaining about the hardship ravaging the country and the sudden disappearance of their president who they have now nicknamed T-Pain.
As Nigerians poured in their tweets pushing the hashtag; T-Pain to the top of the trend charts, the light in their bulb began to flicker and before anyone knew what was going on the light tripped off.
National Grid Collapse
“The way this light take off, national grid is that you?”, many Nigerians whispered behind their keypads in pidgin English just for the fun of it.
Little did they know what was about to hit them.
Minutes later, reports that the country’s national grid had collapsed began to filter in.
“Ah! Mogbe!”, many exclaimed.
What followed this report were a series of attacks on the government.
No Grid Collapse
Well, while Nigerians air their frustrations on the blackout, Minister Adelabu, has dismissed reports that the national grid collapsed two times within 24 hours.
According to him, there was only a trip-off.
Adelabu said what occurred was a line tripping in certain quarters in Nigeria.
He said: “There was no grid collapse; there was a trip-off. When you talk of grid collapse, it will involve 100 per cent of our grid infrastructure.
But this was a line tripping in certain quarters in the country; even the major centres were not affected, talk of Abuja, Lagos, and Ibadan. And this was even restored within two hours.”
“Let me tell you, grid disturbances are global. We are talking about electrical connections. There could be tripping off due to weather, due to the dilapidation of some infrastructure.
What matters most is what is your rate of response to fix this. We responded swiftly and within two hours, we brought it back and it’s working now. So, it’s no big deal.”
The Big Question
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TUC) has stated that it would investigate the cause of the multiple power grid collapses that occurred on Monday and Tuesday.
Now, Nigerians are confused.
“Who do we believe?”, many questioned.
Well, while many people have confirmed that power has been restored, others are yet to see electricity in their areas.
