Nigeria is still chasing a power fix it was supposed to finish in 2021.

In 2019, Nigeria signed an agreement with Siemens to fix the power grid. The target was 7,000 megawatts of reliable supply by 2021, and 11,000 megawatts by 2023.

It is February 2026.

Tinubu called Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday to ask for the project to be revived. Merz said Siemens is ready. Deutsche Bank will finance it. They'll restart what was already supposed to be finished.

In the same nine-minute call, Tinubu asked Merz to supply used, secondhand helicopters for surveillance in the Sahel. Not new equipment. Used ones. Because worsening insecurity is pushing south toward Nigeria's coastline and the military needs air cover it doesn't have.

Reuters confirmed both asks from Tinubu's office statement.

Sit with that for a moment. Nigeria's 2026 defence and security budget is ₦5.41 trillion. The country is simultaneously asking Germany for secondhand helicopters. The Presidential Power Initiative was signed seven years ago. Nigeria is calling to start over.

This isn't about Tinubu specifically. The power project stalled under Buhari too, through "regulatory, logistical and financing challenges" that have never been fully explained. The Siemens deal has survived two administrations without delivering the transmission upgrades it promised.

The pattern is the same as the health budget. Money allocated or promised. Execution collapsing. And a phone call years later to restart what was already announced as done.

Merz said Germany is eager to receive Nigeria's new ambassador. Nigeria, apparently, hasn't sent one yet.