Guardian

FORTY-SIX per cent of respondents to a recent survey  expressed their dissatisfaction on the present performance of Power Holding Company (PHCN) as regards provision of regular power supply in the country.

This has however confirmed the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo’s statement that over 120 Nigerians had no access to electricity.

A survey conducted by TNS RMS, one of the leading global research organisations, titled: “The Pulse of the Nation Survey”, made available to The Guardian recently, stated that respondents in Kano, Ibadan and Lagos said that the performance of PHCN was now worse, while 39 per cent in Lagos and 32 per cent in Kano said that PHCN performance had remained the same.

According to the report, majority of respondents were optimistic about the dividends of the planned government privatisation programme. “Forty nine per cent believe the performance of PHNC will improve if the parastatal is privatised. Twenty five per cent said that PHCN’s performance would remain the same, while 17 per cent said that power supply would go down if the parastatal was privatised.”

The report hinted: “Respondents in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and Kano are optimistic about the government initiative to privatise PHCN. However, respondents in Enugu and Port Harcourt are pessimistic as they believe power supply will go down if the parastatal is privatized.”

It added that 39 per cent of respondents said that government was not responsive to their needs employment, electricity, amenities, security, electricity and economic development.

The report noted that there were mixed feelings regarding the performance of the Nigerian economy. “Only two per cent of respondents said that the economy was performing satisfactorily.”

28 per cent said it was somewhat performing well, while 29 per cent said that it had been stagnant – stayed the same while 41 per cent of respondents said that the economy’s performance had gotten worse.

The survey said: “Among the key problems, corruption is the number one problem facing Nigeria; this is prominent across all sampled states. This sentiment is; however, lower in Enugu State compared to other states.

“Terrorism and crime are also key problems facing the country, which was also mentioned prominently across all sampled states. Terrorism and security came second and third as key problems facing Nigeria across the sampled states.”

On the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the survey noted that only four per cent of the respondents described its performance as satisfactory.

It said: “Only four per cent of respondents rated EFCC’s performance as satisfactory, 36 per cent said EFCC is somewhat performing well, while 28 per cent said the organisation’s performance has stayed the same over time. Over a third (32 per cent) said EFCC’s performance had got worse over time.”

The Chief Executive Officer TNS RMS (West East Central Africa), Adeola Tejumola, said that the quarterly survey was the views of Nigerians on various national issues.