Video: Lack of electricity makes people engage their wives early, doubles population — Fayose
Ayo Fayose
Abdullateef Fowewe
Former Ekiti State Governor and newly inaugurated Chairman of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Ayodele Fayose, has linked Nigeria’s high population growth to poor electricity supply, arguing that early nightfall forces couples to stay indoors and “engage their wives,” thereby increasing birth rates.
Speaking in an interview with Arise News shortly after his inauguration, Fayose said the absence of reliable power limits nightlife and evening recreation, especially in rural and underserved communities.
He explained, “When you don’t address the issue of electricity, by 7 o’clock it gets dark, and people start engaging with their wives, so the population doubles. The simple problem is that, because there is no electricity, people go to bed early. Their minds are already prepared for it. If this is the only option available, they simply stay at home. But if we address the electricity problem, there will be nightlife.”
Fayose’s remarks frame reliable electricity not only as an economic and development issue but also as a social one that shapes daily routines and household behaviour after sunset.
Fayose was formally inaugurated days earlier by the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, as Chairman of the REA’s Governing Board, with a mandate focused on expanding electricity access to rural and off‑grid communities.
He pledged to provide political backing, mobilise funding and push projects that bring power to more Nigerians, saying the agency’s job is “beyond providing electricity but also looking at the population of the country who need to feel the impact of the energy.”
World Bank and other estimates put the number of Nigerians without access to grid electricity at about 85 million roughly 40–43% of the population making it the world’s largest energy access deficit.
Only a small share of those connected to the national grid report having power “most” or “all” of the time, underscoring the unreliability even for connected households.
Fayose’s statement has drawn attention for its blunt, colloquial explanation of how power shortages shape private life, and for tying that directly to demographic pressure.
