The comment by Senator Danjuma Goje on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, during the screening of Mr. Joseph Tegbe as minister of power, that Nigeria should hand over its power sector to China for twenty years has sparked reactions and controversies both in the mainstream media and in the social media. The tenured senator has said, “The best thing to do, in my opinion, and in the opinion of some others, is to swallow our pride, call on one of the major, successful, advanced countries, preferably China, because their cost of labour and cost generally is low. Give them this project of power in Nigeria, run it for 20 years. Give us stable power, get your money back, and move out…”
Is there any merit in Senator Goje’s controversial suggestion? Predictably, public opinion and reactions are divided broadly between those who would say “anything for light,” who will not mind who owns or runs the power plants provided there is constant and reliable power supply, taking a cue from the telecom sector; and those who will object on the basis that it might lead to ceding of national sovereignty. Neither of these positions may be scientific, but what is the reality on the ground? While Nigeria has a total generating capacity of over 13,000 megawatts (MW) if all 28-grid connected power plants run at 100 percent capacity, the actual generation of power has hovered around 5000 MW or less. This compares with China, which is the world’s largest electric power producer with 2,000,000 MW generating capacity in 2026, with actual output exceeding 9,900 Terrawatts hours (TWh), compared to Nigeria’s grid-connected output, expected to be 30 to 32 TWh for most of 2026. Not only is China the largest electricity producer globally, it also has the greatest capacity for the most rapid expansion in power generation in the whole world, with power generation capacity almost tripling from 622,000 MW in 2006 to 1, 645,750 MW in 2016 and further increasing more marginally to 2,000.000 MW in 2026, based on need. Nigeria’s current power generation is not much different from what it was when Prof. Barth Nnaji was minister of power 2011-2012 when Nigeria had a pick power generation of 4500 MW, with average generation hovered around 3,500 MW.
On the basis of the foregoing, if there is any country on the face of the earth that Nigeria can run to or call upon to help it out of her power supply quagmire, it is China. This is by no means far-fetched. Nigeria is currently negotiating with the Export-Import Bank of China (EximBank) for a $2 billion loan to build a “super grid” to ease power outages and enhance industrial output. It goes without saying that Chinese engineering firms will get the contracts to execute this major transmission project when the loan is secured. Also, Nigeria in April 2025 signed $328.8 engineering, procurement, construction and financing (EPC+F) transmission contract to build and rehabilitate 544 kilometres of critical 330kV and 132 kV transmission lines. Indeed, Chinese firms are the most dominant players in big EPC contracting jobs in the Nigerian power sector.
However, to say hand over the Nigerian power sector to China for a 20-years turnaround sounds rather simplistic. What do we do with all the reforms and all the investment by private sector players in power generating and distribution companies? Besides, it will be a broadside indictment of the entire power sector, comprising a wide range of stakeholders in both the private and public sectors in power generation, transmission, distribution and regulation, at both the national and subnational levels. It has been said in this column a number of times that managing the Nigerian power sector is not rocket science. The problems are systemic, but they are not the result of lack of technical or engineering knowledge or managerial skills. They are primarily the result of government’s lack of willingness to let go of the power sector, which largely comprises industrial and commercial undertakings that can best be owned, run and managed by private sector entrepreneurs, investors and managers.
This is the crux of the matter. As the United Kingdom has shown, the power sector, including the entire transmission infrastructure, can be successfully privatised and effectively managed by the private sector, including entrepreneurs, institutional and other investors and managers from all over the world. If Senator Danjuma Goje, who was Minister of State, Power and Steel, 1999 to 2001, can advocate the wholesale hand over of the entire power sector in Nigeria to a sovereign power for 20 years to manage and turnaround, he may as well be a strong advocate for privatisation of the entire power sector in Nigeria, including the transmission infrastructure or the national power grid. That will be less disruptive and will enable us keep our national pride intact. Chinese firms also play a huge role as EPC contractors. That is expected to continue for a long time, but it will not be necessary to hand over the entire power sector to them on a platter of gold, line, hook and sinker. Besides, what will be the implication for the development of local engineering capacity in the Nigerian power sector?
Since no country in the world has ever handed over the management of its entire power sector to another country for a set term, Nigeria, which prides itself as the ‘giant of Africa’ would have set an ignoble precedent which would have been entirely unnecessary. Senator Goje should however be commended for the courage to play the devil’s advocate in this matter of urgent national importance. The Senate of the National Assembly recently went through the ritual of screening the next minister of power, with great expectations from law-makers and Nigerians at large. But what tools, resources or overarching strategy does Mr. Joseph Tegbe have to make a huge or dramatic difference within a limited tenure of one year?
Nigeria seems “stuck in the mud” in the management of its power sector. Apart from a power sector that is public sector owned to the tune of 60 percent or more, public sector bureaucrats who are the predominant managers of the Nigerian power sector, are by nature the most impervious or the least susceptible to innovation and change, the kind of change that can be pivotal to rapidly transforming the power sector, which is a highly technologically-driven sector.
The kind of transformative agenda for a dramatic turnaround within ten years that Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, former minister of state power and steel, two-term governor of Gombe State and incumbent four-term Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, can push in the hallowed chamber of the Nigerian Senate is first, full privatisation of the power sector, in place of handing it over to the Chinese. Secondly, an elaborate 10-year technical assistance and manpower development bilateral agreement with China to equip Nigerian engineers and technicians in the power sector with required skills to manage a robust and reliable powers sector. These coupled with throwing the Nigerian power sector open to institutional and other investors from all over the world as the UK has done will transform the vital sector. There will be no need to hand over the sector to China for 20 years.
• Mr. Igbinoba is Team Lead/CEO at ProServe Options Consulting, Lagos
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