Tony Elumelu is trying to light up Nigeria, one turbine at a time. His Transnational Corporation, or Transcorp, has just finished a quiet act of engineering diplomacy: shifting four turbines from Afam in Rivers State to Delta State, where the gas flows more freely.
The relocation was born of necessity. Gas shortages in the east had left Afam’s turbines hungry. Rather than wait for promises to solidify, Transcorp’s leadership moved hardware to where supply was steady. The result: more megawatts on the national grid, and a brief, flickering victory in the country’s long, uneven war with darkness.
According to Transcorp’s CEO, Owen Omogiafo, the move is already paying off. Delta’s gas lines are stable, and Heirs Energies, another firm under Elumelu’s umbrella, has revived a key gas well to feed the turbines left behind in Afam.
In the words of Omogiafo, “We’re seeing more power generation… Our confidence is returning.” Transcorp’s numbers agree.
The conglomerate posted a nine-month profit of N91.4 billion, up 20 per cent from last year. Its power units now contribute over a fifth of Nigeria’s installed electricity capacity. Behind the scenes, Elumelu’s mix of capital, patience, and persuasion is doing what policy alone has not achieved: movement.
The national picture, though, is less tidy. Nigeria still wrestles with a N4 trillion debt to power firms, chronic gas supply failures, and a vandalised grid that loses nearly 40 per cent of the energy it transmits. For every turbine humming in Delta, another tower somewhere falls to theft or neglect.
Yet Elumelu’s experiment holds a hint of what could work: private initiative tuned to public urgency. If Transcorp sustains its momentum, it might prove that the power sector’s revival will not come from sweeping reform alone, but from pragmatic shifts—metal, gas, and resolve moving where they are needed most.
Leave a comment