Residents of Bayelsa State, one of Nigeria’s oil-rich regions, are enduring a frustrating electricity blackout that has persisted for three months, raising concerns about infrastructure and governance in an area abundant in natural resources.
Despite being a major contributor to Nigeria’s oil production, Bayelsa has been grappling with severe power shortages.
The blackout has severely affected daily life, disrupting businesses, schools, and healthcare facilities. Many households have resorted to using generators, which further strains their finances and contributes to environmental pollution.
Local businesses are particularly hard hit, with many forced to close or reduce operations due to the lack of power.
“We can’t run our machines, and customers are staying away,” Chukwudi Nnaji, a local tailor tweeted on X. “This is the worst we’ve experienced.”
Read also: Nigeria’s electricity customers rose to 12.9 million in Q2 2024 – NBS
Reason for the power outage
The state has been without electricity supply for several weeks now after vandals destroyed 13 towers on the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132kV Double Circuit transmission line on 29 July.
Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, the commissioner for information, orientation and strategy, Bayelsa, who commented on the development, said the destruction of the power infrastructure was an “attack on the social and economic wellbeing of the residents of the state and a sabotage on government’s investment drive”.
Emmanuel Akpa, general manager, Port Harcourt region at Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) lamented the spate of vandalism of the company’s installations nationwide, noting that between July and August alone, 16 towers were destroyed within the Port Harcourt region.
According to him, TCN’s project implementation process in the area had been greatly hampered due to the nefarious acts of vandalism.
He further said: “We’re pained that this act has put the good people of Bayelsa into untold hardship and has equally plunged TCN into huge financial debt. In my 33 years of service, I have never seen this kind of colossal damage. It should be a national concern.
“Although vandalism is recorded across the country, the rate in this area is alarming,” Akpa was quoted as saying.
While calling for increased collaboration to tackle the issue, he added that community leaders should be given a marching order by the state government to take responsibility to prevent such activities in their communities.
He also appealed to the government of Bayelsa to decisively address the issue to forestall future occurrences.
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