Nigeria’s Chronic Electricity Problems

0:00Today on State of the World, Nigeria's chronic electricity problems.

0:08You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. I'm Greg Dixon. Nigeria is one of the most electricity-deprived countries in the world. It's Africa's most populous nation, but more than a third of people there have no access to electricity. Even those who are connected to the power grid can't rely on it. The grid collapsed 12 times just last year. And the situation doesn't show any signs of improving. And PR's Emmanuel Akinwotu takes us to Nigeria to look at the country's crumbling electrical infrastructure and to see how people cope.

0:50The invasive hum of generators dominates the soundscape on a busy commercial street in Badagri, a coastal town on the outskirts of Lagos. But it fades into silence as we head into rural neighbourhoods of cement bungalows, fields and streams, where many in Badagri live. The quiet is striking, until we hear a TV playing from the only house with soda panels gleaming on the roof. Almost 30 people are packed inside 60-year-old Cecilia Ogumbe's home. Young men, women and children sit and lay out sprawled across plastic mats in the living room, watching a crime drama on a TV screen mounted on the wall.

1:32In the corner, there's a tangle of cables charging about 15 phones and power banks. I joke to Mrs Ogumbe that her home feels like a community centre.

1:43Speaking of Yoruba, she says I should just wait until the evenings, when it's so packed with her neighbours that there's barely any room. Her home is one of only four out of about 50 houses who can afford their own electricity. She's one of the very few with a functioning fridge where neighbours store their food and drinks. They even send their kids to watch TV or do their homework. Some even come to do their aine. Mrs Okumbe says they haven't had any power in the area for more than five years, apart from the day of the presidential elections in 2023. One young man in the back of the room tries to defend the government, saying they've promised to restore electricity across Badagri within the next 10 weeks.

2:30Immediately, Mrs Okumbe calls them lies. The electric wires in the area have been vandalised, and no one ever comes to fix them. Their transformer is now useless and sits rusted and overgrown with weeds. Fixing Nigeria's electricity crisis has been an age-old challenge.

2:52Nigerian music legend Fela Kuti even sang about it in 1986 in a track called Just Like That.

3:07Decades later, the problem is as insurmountable as ever. No country has as many people without electricity as Nigeria, despite routine promises from politicians, including the current president, Bolatinubu. By all means necessary, you must have electricity. But so far, these promises have largely fallen flat. A recent push to raise tariffs and crackdown on unpaid bills aims to fix that. But ironically, one of the worst offenders are government and security agencies. So as with so many challenges in Nigeria, people like Mrs Okumbe have found their own solutions. Back in her living room, everyone is gripped by the TV drama where a wealthy businessman is plotting to assassinate a rival who's proving elusive.

3:57She says she feels fortunate, but that this situation isn't ideal. She wants her neighbours to have independence and dignity too. Until that's possible, her door stays open. Emmanuel Akimoto, NPR News, Leifos.

4:19That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.