Power is restored in Nigeria after nationwide outage caused by electrical grid failure

By CHINEDU ASADU
Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Power is getting restored in Nigeria after the country’s electricity distribution companies reported a 10-hour nationwide power outage. The country’s electrical grid has collapsed multiple times in recent years. The government’s power minister said a fire caused the grid to collapse on Thursday. The distribution companies reported that the outage affected all of Nigeria’s 36 states and the capital city of Abuja. Oil-rich but energy-poor Nigeria has a dilapidated energy infrastructure. The country generates a daily average of 4,000 megawatts of electricity for its population of more than 210 million people, far less than the 30,000 megawatts authorities say it needs. Frequent outages leave millions of residents relying on gasoline-powered generators for electricity.