On 1 November 2013, Nigeria handed its power generation and distribution companies to private owners. The promise was clear: stable electricity supply, fresh private investment, and a future where generators would finally become relics of the past.
Thirteen years on, that future has not arrived. Writer Posi Olatubosun raises the uncomfortable question that millions of Nigerians live with every day: who is still waiting for the lights to come on?
The privatisation was sold as a turning point. What it has delivered, more than a decade later, is still being counted in fuel costs, spoiled food, and hours lost to darkness. The generator economy that was supposed to end did not end. It deepened.
The story of Nigeria's power sector is not simply a policy failure. It is a bill that ordinary people keep paying, every single day, while the debate about who is responsible continues at the top. The question now is not what went wrong. It is how much longer this can go on.
Originally published by Premium Times.