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Bayelsa Gets Power Back After 4-Month Blackout Following TCN Restoration
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has successfully restored electricity to most parts of Bayelsa State after a four-month blackout, caused by the vandalism of transmission towers earlier this year.
The TCN’s Port Harcourt Region, which covers several states including Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Imo, and Rivers, faced a significant challenge when about 20 transmission towers along the Ahoada-Yenagoa 132 Kilovolt (KV) electricity line were damaged by criminals on July 29.
Emmanuel Anyaegbulem, the General Manager of TCN’s Port Harcourt Region, shared details of the restoration process during a press conference on Monday in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State.
He mentioned the major difficulties the company faced, especially the cost and effort involved in repairing the collapsed towers, which took from July 29 until November 30 to complete.
According to Anyaegbulem, the repairs of the collapsed transmission towers were not only time-consuming but also expensive.
He explained that each transmission tower costs approximately N13 million to construct, a significant investment that adds to the financial strain caused by the vandalism.
Anyaegbulem also spoke about the ongoing efforts to tackle vandalism in the region. In 2024, police officers working with TCN arrested 10 individuals who were caught vandalizing the company’s infrastructure.
Of those, four have been convicted by the courts, and the remaining six are still in police custody.
The company has stressed the importance of safeguarding its facilities to ensure the uninterrupted supply of electricity to customers.
TV anchor Rufai Oseni makes headlines as he speaks on fuel subsidy in Nigeria. He shared that Nigeria can have fuel subsidy without the long queues at filling stations.
“When we were still paying subsidies, there were no long queues. We were subsidising. So you can still have a subsidy regime going on, and there will be no long queues because production was close by. Dangote had it. That’s just it. That argument also falls flat.
“The biggest beneficiaries of subsidy are not Nigerians. They are crony capitalists that have big infrastructure, and they do contracts. They have been the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidy,” he said.
Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu, speaks to those in the electricity sector about the usual blackouts in the state.
He speaks on ways things can change in the state and how electricity can be provided.
“We need to drop corporate egos, abandon long-standing excuses, and confront the harsh realities obstructing progress in the power sector.”
“We, state governments, used to give excuses that everything is centralised, so the Federal Government has unbundled it now. What have we done in a year and a half?” Sanwo-Olu asked.
“We take two steps forward, we go five steps backward,” he said.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared Thursday, August 20, a work-free day for public servants in the state to mark the Isese Festival.
Speaking on the celebration, he said “Ìṣẹ̀ṣe is not a relic. It is a living expression of our traditions and a celebration of Yoruba spirituality as an important part of Nigeria’s cultural and religious landscape,” he said.
He added “When the drums sound in Lagos on Thursday, they answer drums in Havana, in Salvador, in Port of Spain. Fifty-five million people and counting. Lagos is not observing a local holiday. Lagos is standing at the centre of a global heritage,” Aregbe said.
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