The Federal Government has begun construction of a new ultra-modern National Control Centre for the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO) in Osogbo, Osun State, replacing a 64-year-old facility that no longer meets the demands of running Nigeria’s grid. The groundbreaking was performed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON, supported by the Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe.
In his remarks, the Vice President, represented by the Senior Special Assistant(Legal), Office of the Vice President Bashir Maidugu, said reliable electricity is central to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He described power as the foundation of an economy that works, enabling manufacturers to plan production, small businesses to operate with confidence and hospitals and schools to function, as well as creating jobs and wider economic opportunity.
The National Control Centre, he said, is where that reliability is protected, and Nigeria cannot run a modern, interconnected grid with the tools of yesterday.
Giving an overview of the project, Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe said it gives NISO the ability to see what is happening across the national grid and respond promptly, describing it as a concrete expression of the President’s determination to fix the underlying weaknesses in electricity supply.
Once commissioned, the centre will bring integrated SCADA, large-format displays and analytics that help operators spot developing faults, plan preventive maintenance and make better use of existing generation and transmission capacity. It will also improve responses to disturbances, support the integration of renewable energy and strengthen Nigeria’s coordination within the West African Power Pool, backed by stronger physical and cyber security.
For consumers and businesses, Tegbe said, the expected payoff is fewer avoidable outages and a more dependable supply. He cautioned that this also depends on adequate gas feedstock, well-maintained transmission equipment and distribution networks that can deliver power to end users, with the centre strengthening the coordination that turns those investments into usable electricity.
NISO’s Managing Director/CEO, Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed, said the centre will improve NISO’s visibility of the national grid, sharpen coordination and support faster, better-informed responses to system disturbances, strengthening the security and resilience of supply.
He said better data from upgraded telemetry, SCADA and automatic metering will mean better decisions and more reliable electricity, and will improve market settlement. He noted that the new centre will equip NISO to meet the technical demands of the West African power system, and added that NISO is building the skilled operators to run it to international standards, because technology does not operate the grid, people do.
The ceremony, which marks a new era of grid stability, was witnessed by the Board and Management of NISO, members of the National Assembly Committees on Power, leadership of various Distribution Companies, representatives of the Osun State Government, industry stakeholders and community leaders.
