President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has urged Nigerians to temper expectations for a swift resolution to the country’s electricity crisis, citing the challenges of outdated power infrastructure.
During a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, December 11, Tinubu revealed that the national power grid is severely outdated, with some transmission lines over 50 to 60 years old.
“Nigeria, being a nation in a hurry, wants a magical response. But don’t forget, those transmission lines are about 50 to 60 years old.
The snags are what we are trying to improve and reduce the possibility of problems.
We are doing that. I’ve signed a reform that decentralised the power distribution and generation in the country.
The states and various subsector and sub-national can generate their power and distribute it; they are working on it all.
We have German businesses who are promoting alternative sources of energy, and they are here. We have the sun; they have the technology.
“I think we can utilise that for rural electrification; as mentioned earlier on, we can use the various dams that are not effective.
“We assure you that we will put these dams to use for the benefit of our people,” he said.
