Federal Govt Breaks 64-year Jinx, Kicks Off New National Control Centre In Osogbo

In a major move to overhaul the country’s power architecture, the federal government has officially broken a 64-year-old jinx by kicking off the construction of an ultra-modern National Control Centre in Osogbo, Osun State.

The state-of-the-art facility, designed for the Nigerian Independent System Operator (NISO), will phase out the obsolete, six-decade-old installation that can no longer cope with the operational pressures of Nigeria’s evolving electricity grid.

The historic groundbreaking was carried out on behalf of Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON, who was joined at the site by the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe.

Delivering a breakdown of the project, the Minister of Power Joseph Tegbe explained that the upcoming facility will provide NISO with complete, real-time visibility across the entire national grid network, enabling rapid intervention during system swings.

He described the initiative as tangible proof of President Tinubu’s resolve to resolve systemic vulnerabilities across the electricity value chain.

Upon completion and commissioning, the complex will feature fully integrated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, high-definition large-format display walls, and advanced grid analytics.

These tools will enable system operators to identify emerging electrical faults before they escalate, schedule targeted preventive maintenance, and maximize the throughput of available generation and transmission assets.

The centre is also engineered to bolster disturbance management, smooth the path for integrating utility-scale renewable energy resources, and solidify Nigeria’s leadership and synchronization within the West African Power Pool (WAPP) all protected by advanced physical and cybersecurity architectures.

Addressing the tangible dividends for households and commercial enterprises, Tegbe noted that the primary outcome will be a sharp decline in preventable blackouts and a noticeably more stable supply.

He stressed, however, that grid reliability is a holistic effort requiring sustained gas feedstock delivery, robust maintenance of high-voltage transmission lines, and capable distribution infrastructure to evacuate power to end consumers. The new control hub will supply the precise operational coordination necessary to translate upstream investments into stable, delivered electricity.

Representing the Vice President, Bashir Maidugu, Senior Special Assistant (Legal) in the Office of the Vice President, underscored that a stable, resilient power sector sits at the heart of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He pointed out that sustainable electricity forms the bedrock of an effective economy, one that empowers industrial manufacturers to schedule production lines seamlessly, allows small business owners to run their ventures predictably, ensures critical public services like hospitals and schools stay functional, and unlocks employment alongside broad economic opportunities.

Maidugu emphasized that the National Control Centre serves as the nerve centre safeguarding that operational reliability, warning that Nigeria cannot manage a modern, dynamic, and interconnected transmission network using outdated legacy equipment.

Also speaking at the event, Engr. Abdu Bello Mohammed, Managing Director/CEO of NISO, affirmed that the facility will dramatically elevate the operator’s surveillance, streamline day-to-day coordination, and drive fast, evidence-based mitigation whenever disturbances hit the network, thus solidifying energy security.

He stated that enriched data pipelines powered by advanced telemetry, next-generation SCADA, and automatic meter reading will drive superior operational choices, deliver higher supply reliability, and bring precision to wholesale market settlements.

Mohammed added that the facility will position NISO to meet the rigorous technical codes of the regional West African electricity grid, noting in parallel that NISO is actively training elite personnel to manage the infrastructure to global benchmarks, acknowledging that modern technology depends on capable human operators to succeed.

The milestone event, heralding a pivotal shift toward long-term national grid stability, drew an extensive delegation of dignitaries, including the Board and Executive Management of NISO, members of the Senate and House Committees on Power, chief executives of electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), delegates of the Osun State Government, power sector investors, and host community leaders.