That, this great country Nigeria should enjoy an economy which is commensurate with her size, population, natural resources and above all, popularity among African countries is not only compulsory but imperative.
In fact, in order to forge ahead as a truly great nation, all the public and private arms holding the hilt of the economy should hold tighter and show sincerity with the authority and confidence reposed in them.
Take for instance, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria was one of the arms that held the hilt of an economy.
But unfortunately, by virtue of the absolute monopoly it enjoyed, Power Holding Company was deemed the greatest cause of set back in the economy.
This is because in the modern world electricity is such a basic requirement.
It is something we should take for granted and it is so taken in even economically distressed African countries including those which obtain electricity supply from Nigeria.
It would be recalled that because of poor performance and to arrest the deteriorating rate of electricity supply in the country occasioned by NEPA, the former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo dissolved the NEPA and transferred the responsibilities to the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PLC.
But since then, analysts and observers had wanted to know what facilities were available to the Power Holding Company to carry out its responsibilities or is it an old wine in a new cup?
This is because if the experiences of the past are anything to go by, then the Power Holding Company showered with the responsibilities of electricity supply should have performed better than in the NEPA era.
Sincerely speaking, we are expected to enjoy a steady supply of electricity in this country but the reverse is the case.
This is because rather than being steady, electricity is gliding from being epileptic to being non-available.
Many areas of Rivers State go for hours each day without electricity, while some areas have been living without it for months and some others for years.
At many of Rivers State suburbs, the rotational arrangement is the only availability option to enjoy supply of electricity within the consumers such that most of them have been treated to the diet of losses, having most of the time lost every edible thing in their fridges.
Cold water and other drinks for quenching thirsts had also become a luxury.
Businesses of the self-employed people such as barbers, welders, electrical/electronics, technicians and a host of others who cannot afford to buy a generator set have been badly affected.
During the night, the whole place is enveloped in fearsome darkness, residents contend with severe heat and fear of men of the underworld.
The perplexing aspect of the ugly situation is the reason one gets if one mentions to colleagues that one’s area has been in black out for five months.
Often, they would congratulate rather than sympathize with one, saying that they have been living without electricity for a much longer period of time.
The question that keeps agitating the mind of everybody is when would this suffering end?
No less insufferable is the recent fantastic raise in tariff by Power Holding Company. The new rates amount to an average of one hundred per cent increase.
In fact, this is the nineth or tenth of such reviews in about as many years. Yet none of the previous increases produced any substantial improvement in the performance of the organization. The current one would not be different. The reasons are clear. As a thoroughly mismanaged monopoly, efficiency is not one of Power Holding Company’s justifications for existence.
In short, those put in charge of it believe that all that matters is to fleece consumers by improving more financial burden on them.
In fact, Power Holding Company has always been clever enough to deceive everybody with excuses laid at the feet of this fault or that.
Truly, if the government had consistently insisted on accountability audit for the establishment, the situation ‘would not have deteriorated to the current level of chaos.
Power Holding Company should have been made to ensure regular supply of electricity as a precondition for any possible increase in costs.
After all, if reports are anything to by, it was reported that effective July 2012, a new tariff would be put in place to enable the anticipated reforms in the Power Holding Company become a reality. In so doing, free meters would also be made available to each consumer, but surprisingly, all these conditions are yet to be fulfilled.
If the authority had striven to achieve even above average performance, economic productivity would have been boosted to earn more income to maintain and expand facilities.
But the reverse has been the case.
The failure to do this has turned an otherwise viable enterprise to be likened to one who wants to collect money by force in the opinion of its customers.
Despite the high tariffs by Power Holding Company, whenever there is a transformer problem, the residents raise the money to facilitate the repairs.
Power Holding Company should overhaul their system by ensuring that all those factors militating against the good performance and improvement are discouraged and by so doing, regular electricity supply is what the consumers want now or never.
Written by: FELIX B I GEORGE
