ABSTRACT

THE MAJOR PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY IS TO ASCERTAIN THE EFFECT OF PRIVATIZATION AND COMMERCIALIZATION ON NIGERIA ECONOMY USING POWER HOLDING COMPANY OF NIGERIA EKWULOBIA AS A CASE STUDY. THE REASON BEHIND USING THE POWER HOLDING COMPANY OF NIGERIA IS BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THE PUBLIC ENTERPRISES THAT ITS PRODUCT HAS THE WIDEST CONSUMPTION. THE POPULATION OF THE STUDY CONSISTED OF 254 WORKERS IN PHCN EKWULOBIA ANAMBRA STATE. THE SAMPLE SIZE WAS DETERMINED USING YARO YAMENE FORMULAR. THE SAMPLE OF 155 OUT OF 254 WAS DRAWN USING SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING. FIVE RESEARCH QUESTIONS WERE FORMULATED WHICH GUIDE THE STUDY. A STRUCTURED QUESTIONNAIRE WAS DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED FOR USE. TABLE AND PERCENTAGE WERE USED TO ANSWER THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS. THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY WERE: (1) THERE IS GENERAL DISCONTENT BY THE PUBLIC ABOUT PHCN’S SERVICE (2) THERE WAS SERIOUS FLUCTUATING POWER SUPPLY FROM LATE 1992 TO DATE (3) POLITICAL INSTABILITY HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROBLEMS OF PHCN (4) PHCN HAS NOT REGISTERED AS A PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT: BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY, THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS WERE MADE. (I) THE GENERAL PUBLIC WERE DISSATISFIED WITH THE POOR SERVICES OF THE POWER HOLDING COMPANY. (II) THE SERIOUS FLUCTUATION IN THE SUPPLY OF POWER BY THE POWER HOLDING COMPANY WAS CAUSED BY BREAKDOWN OF THE POWER HOLDING COMPANY’S POWER STATION AT EGBIN. (III) POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN OUR COUNTRY HAS MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR THE SUCCESSFUL PRIVATIZATION OF POWER HOLDING COMPANY’S. BASED ON THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY AND THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM IT, THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS WERE MADE. (I) COMPANY HOLDING COMPANY OF NIGERIA SHOULD ESTABLISH A GOOD PUBLIC RELATION BY IMPROVING ON THEIR QUALITY OF SERVICE. (II) THERE SHOULD BE TOTAL REHABILITATION AND FREQUENT MAINTENANCE OF THE POWER STATIONS AND OTHER ELECTRIC GENERATING EQUIPMENT SO AS TO SOLVE PROBLEM OF FLUCTUATION. (III) THE FREQUENT CHANGE IN THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE CURTAILED OR MINIMIZED SO AS TO ENABLE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS IN THE PERFORMANCES OF POWER HOLDING COMPANY OF NIGERIA.   (IV) EFFORTS SHOULD BE MADE BY THE GOVERNMENT AND STAKEHOLDERS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALIZATION OF POWER HOLDING COMPANY OF NIGERIA.

CHAPTER ONE

1.1        BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The import substitution policy of the post independence Nigeria led to the establishment of industries. Apart from this prime motivation for import substitution, there was the need to create jobs for the growing educated youths, the need of industrialization and the ideological argument that the government should control, regulate and supervise the commending heights of the then nascent economy.

Furthermore, there was the need to strive to catch up with the developed countries of the world and since the indigenous businessmen and managers were neither technically nor financially ready to assume the catalyst role which their counterparts in the developed countries were playing; government felt obliged to fill the investment gap.   

        The obvious imperfections in the market oriented economics in terms of resources allocation to the more profitable but less preferred sectors of the economy was yet another reason for government intervention in the economy.

        The sum total of these is that between 1960 and 1980 the various governments in Nigeria both at federal and state levels established numerous industries. The core characteristics of most of these industries were inefficiency in the utilization of resources and their consequent dependence on the public treasury for subvention. Therefore, these adverse operating conditions could not make for rational economic decisions. Consequently, these enterprises and their management lost their mission and became pipes for wastages, agencies for political patronage and generally parasites on the national and state treasuries. However, by the late 80’s, the glut in the world oil market set in and it suddenly devoured on policy makers that the revenue from oil was significantly below the requirement for the sustenance of these money-guzzling ventures. There then arose the need for reprioritization of economic policies and the need to release the energy in economy suppressed by bureaucracy and undue control.