Nigerian football fans have turned to dark humour on social media platform X to mock the country’s persistent electricity crisis, joking that even if the Super Eagles make it to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, many Nigerians will have no power to watch the matches, Saturday PUNCH reports.
The jokes come against the backdrop of a worsening national grid situation. Nigeria’s electricity generation dropped below the 4,000 megawatt threshold in recent weeks due to persistent gas supply shortages affecting thermal power plants, with the Nigerian Independent System Operator recording just 3,940.53 megawatts as of one Thursday morning.
The grid collapsed at least three times in January alone, making it at least four collapses this year. Ikeja Electric, one of the country’s distribution companies, issued a public apology to customers, attributing the blackouts to gas supply constraints affecting generation capacity and promising that “relevant stakeholders are working tirelessly to address the generation shortfall.”
The power situation provided fertile ground for football fans already anxious about the Super Eagles’ World Cup fate. Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2026 tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States remain in limbo after the Nigeria Football Federation filed a protest alleging that DR Congo fielded ineligible players — including former England youth internationals Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Axel Tuanzebe — during the CAF play-off final in November 2025, which the Leopards won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
FIFA has confirmed it is reviewing the matter but has provided no timeline for a ruling, and the NFF insists no verdict has been communicated to either federation.
The uncertainty, combined with the electricity woes, proved too much for some fans to resist.
A user with the handle @FTtalkCentral had a blunt prediction, “You have your answer already, you’ll watch the World Cup on Twitter because there won’t even be light for you to watch it on TV.”
Arsnl Exclusive painted a vivid picture of what a Nigeria World Cup experience might look like.
“If Nigeria hosts the FIFA World Cup, one match will start at 6pm and end at ‘whenever NEPA brings light back.’ VAR check go pause because generator never start,” he wrote.
OfficialWorldM recalled the long-standing tradition of selective power supply during big matches.
“This is old story. Especially during World Cup and Nigeria has a match that day, they (power operators) will give light to their own street,” he said, a reference to the widely reported phenomenon of electricity being restored in certain neighbourhoods whenever Nigeria plays.
Odbrowser was even more pessimistic about the country’s chances of hosting or watching a tournament altogether.
“Nigeria will never be considered as a replacement too because they won’t be having light to watch the World Cup,” he wrote.
Innopatr3k, meanwhile, placed Nigeria’s power situation alongside other seemingly impossible feats. “Ronaldo wins the World Cup — Possible. Davido wins the Grammy — Possible. But you fit old before Nigeria has 24 hours light,” he wrote, finishing in pidgin.
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