The Battle for Light in Nigeria and the Transformative Ideas That Can End Energy Theft

By Chinedu Nsofor

Nigeria stands at a defining crossroads in its struggle for stable power supply. Years of investments, reforms and promises have not delivered the uninterrupted electricity that citizens dream of. While many point to generation deficits and transmission weaknesses, there is another crisis consuming the sector from the inside. It is silent. It is widespread. It is crippling. It is energy theft.

Energy theft is the unseen enemy slowing every effort to improve electricity access. According to regulatory estimates, distribution companies across the country record technical, commercial and collection losses that range between forty and fifty five percent. This means that for every one hundred units of electricity generated, almost half disappear without payment. This single reality affects tariff levels, investment decisions, infrastructure upgrades and the daily experience of millions of Nigerians.

In the middle of this crisis, I came across a series of insightful reflections on LinkedIn by an energy professional Engr. Canice Emeka Obi, a highly experienced power systems expert whose career in Nigeria’s electricity distribution landscape has earned him recognition as one of the most grounded operational strategists in the sector, in my opinion. His experience in different distribution companies across Nigeria gave him an unusual perspective on what actually works in the fight against energy theft. Although his thoughts were not written as an official publication, the depth of his experience offers important lessons. This article is an independent interpretation of the ideas he shared, repackaged to help the public see the solutions through a national lens.

What stood out in his reflections is that the problem is not hopeless. The battle can be won. It only requires a smarter, braver and more inclusive strategy.

From the insights he discussed, it becomes clear that energy theft is not one singular problem. It exists in several forms and each form requires a tailored solution. The most common practices include meter bypassing, meter tampering and illegal connections. There is also the worrying issue of collaboration between dishonest customers and dishonest staff. Some communities experience vandalism of transformers and power lines because some criminals strip the copper and sell it. Beyond these obvious acts, a more subtle form of theft occurs when large commercial users hide the true amount of electricity they consume by giving false load information.

These categories show that energy theft is not random misconduct. It is systematic. Understanding this structure is the first step in dismantling it.

One of the most striking lessons from his field experience is the power of modern technology. According to Engineer Canice Emeka Obi, comprehensive smart metering with remote disconnect features can achieve in seconds what manual task forces struggle to accomplish in months. A smart meter does more than record energy. It captures evidence of tampering and sends instant alerts. It can disconnect supply the moment an illegal act is detected. It removes guesswork and reduces the need for heavy manual policing. Even more remarkable is that distribution companies can adopt vendor financed approaches that reduce their upfront financial burden. As more consumers receive smart meters, the metering gap reduces and collection efficiency rises.

He also highlighted the use of advanced digital mapping to track how much electricity flows through each feeder. Once the network becomes visible on a digital platform, areas with high illegal activity become easy to identify. Engr. Canice Emeka Obi said that this visibility transforms the speed and accuracy of enforcement teams.

In many parts of Nigeria, the usual response to unpaid bills or suspected theft is mass disconnection. This often creates hostility and punishes honest consumers along with dishonest ones. The ideas he shared point to a smarter approach. Instead of disconnecting entire communities, distribution companies should use data to identify the highest risk offenders. These offenders are often industries, hotels, large shops and other heavy users whose illegal consumption costs the nation far more than small scale cases.

Public enforcement actions against such offenders create a ripple effect. When entire neighbourhoods see that influential businesses can be disconnected for wrongdoing, the message spreads quickly. People understand that enforcement is real and not selective.

One of the most inspiring parts of the ideas he shared is the transformation of communities from passive observers to active protectors of infrastructure. According to Engineer Canice Emeka Obi, empowering community youths as guardians of local transformers and distribution assets strengthens ownership and drastically reduces vandalism.

When citizens feel ownership over the network, the fight against energy theft becomes a shared mission rather than an external command.

Perhaps the most difficult part of fighting energy theft is confronting powerful offenders. These offenders often include major factories, hotels and institutions that consume large amounts of electricity but under report their usage. Engr. Canice Emeka Obi said that prosecuting even one major offender can reshape public behaviour. The resulting fines and back billing become a strong national deterrent.

Nigeria cannot win the war against energy theft by focusing only on small offenders. The major players must be held accountable.

A painful truth in the sector is that some energy theft incidents are enabled by insiders. When dishonest staff align with dishonest customers, stopping the crime becomes extremely difficult. The ideas he discussed offer several measures that can help break this pattern. These include rotating field staff regularly, rewarding teams that reduce losses and installing monitoring cameras in operational vehicles. These steps discourage familiarity, increase accountability and promote a culture of integrity.

When staff know that they are being evaluated based on performance and honesty, the temptation for collusion reduces significantly.

No distribution company can win this battle alone. Government and regulators must create an environment where energy theft carries real consequences. Stronger legal frameworks, special courts for energy related crimes and a national incentive fund for anti-theft operations could accelerate progress. When the legal system is fast and decisive, the entire sector benefits.

The economic prize is enormous. Reducing national losses from forty five percent to twenty percent could unlock more than one trillion naira annually. This is enough to fund new power plants, expand metering, strengthen infrastructure and reduce tariffs for honest consumers.

These points stood out for me when I read the post; they are:

1. The transformational power of smart meters with instant tamper alerts and remote disconnection.
2. The importance of digital mapping to expose feeder level energy losses.
3. The call for targeted enforcement instead of mass disconnections.
4. The idea of empowering communities to protect transformers and network assets.
5. The bold approach of prosecuting major commercial offenders to set national examples.
6. The need to break insider collusion through staff rotation, incentives and monitoring.
7. The emphasis on a fast legal response to energy theft nationwide.

A Call to Action for a Brighter Nigeria

The most powerful insight from the ideas shared by Engineer Canice Emeka Obi is that reliable power supply will not come only from building more power plants. It will come when Nigerians stop stealing electricity and start protecting it. It will come when technology exposes wrongdoing instantly. It will come when communities begin to guard their transformers. It will come when corrupt insiders lose their influence. It will come when offenders realise that the law will not overlook their actions.

This article is written from the perspective of a concerned writer who encountered these insights on LinkedIn and felt compelled to share them with the nation. These ideas are practical. They are proven. They can be scaled nationwide.

After going through his article on LinkedIn and making further findings on who this energy expert could be, I discovered that Engr. Canice Emeka Obi is a seasoned power systems engineer with more than a decade and a half of hands on experience in Nigeria’s electricity distribution industry. He has worked across several DISCOs, leading technical operations, commercial recovery strategies, energy audit initiatives, smart metering deployments and loss reduction programs. His reputation is built on data driven problem solving, field based innovation and a deep understanding of both community dynamics and network operations. His work reflects a rare blend of technical expertise, operational discipline and transformative thinking that places him among the new generation of energy leaders reshaping Nigeria’s power sector.

Nigeria can win the fight against energy theft. A brighter future is possible. The light we dream of will shine when we finally stop stealing from the system and from ourselves.