THE nation has plunged into a fresh wave of power outages due to the shutdown of the national electricity grid by disgruntled members of labor unions.
The national grid’s capacity today, plummeted to zero megawatts as a consequence of the total disruption of power distribution to all eleven electricity distribution companies throughout the country.
In an announcement today, the General Manager of Public Affairs at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ndidi Mbah, disclosed that the nationwide blackout occurred because TCN personnel, affiliated with the National Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE), completely closed down all electricity substations across the nation around 2:19 am this morning, leading to the national grid’s power capacity dropping to zero megawatts.
Mbah detailed that staff members were reportedly forced out of the control room by 1:15 am in Benin, with those resisting being roughed up, resulting in the Benin Area Control Center being brought to a standstill without any supervision.
Subsequently, other transmission substations like Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo Transmission Substations were all shut down by the labor union, with some transmission lines being opened during the labor activities.
Mbah further explained that various generating units at power plants were compelled to shut down due to the situation.
Despite efforts to restore lost power generation, including initiating grid recovery using the Shiroro substation, the labor union’s obstruction delayed these efforts.
The nationwide industrial action was initiated by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and despite last-minute attempts by the National Assembly to halt the strike, the unions remained resolute in their decision to proceed with the strike.
The deadlock between the Federal Government and the labor unions over a new minimum wage and the recent increase in electricity tariffs has led to the current labor unrest.
The unions argue that the existing minimum wage of ₦30,000 no longer adequately meets the needs of the average Nigerian worker, emphasizing the need for a review to reflect current economic conditions.
