PHCN

The Attitude of Consumers towards Public Utilities (A case Study of Power Holding Company of Nigeria)

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The Attitude of Consumers towards Public Utilities (A case Study of Power Holding Company of Nigeria)

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

In this paper we will be focusing towards the power supply of Nigeria, since this is the main source for providing the basic utilities towards the consumers. A significant shortage has been observed in this area since the consumers are not able to receive the desired amount of electric supply needed. In the development of any country in the world the power sector plays a significant role in maintain the region's economic and social development. And particularly for Nigeria there have been power problems since the last three decades that is becoming a problem in the economical development of the country which is also resulting in a number of problems due to the decaying facilities, distribution and generation of power. All these problems have aroused prior to and right after the independence of the country.

Energy Development in West Africa

Just as the problems of economic advance and the policies suggested as solutions are multi-dimensional, so too are the definitions of economic development. However, according to Kindleberger and Herrick (1977), students of the subject generally define it to include improvements in material welfare, especially for persons with the lowest incomes; the eradication of mass poverty with its correlates of illiteracy, disease and early death; changes in the composition of inputs and outputs that generally include shifts in the underlying structure of production away from agricultural toward industrial activities; the organization of the economy in such a way that productive employment is general among the working-age population rather than the situation of a privileged minority; and the correspondingly greater participation of broadly based groups in making decisions about the directions, economic and otherwise, in which they should move to improve their welfare.

Developing countries are generally characterized in various ways:

Economic system is agrarian rather than industrial

Bulk of the people live in rural areas, and a large part of the national income is generated in agriculture.

Workers are largely self-employed and are not equipped with much physical or human capital.

In international transactions, the bulk of exports include only one or two products rather than a diversified range.

Export production may be foreign owned or controlled; government revenues depend largely on these exports whose prices in the world market fluctuate considerably rather than on income, property, or sales taxes.

Industrial activities are small or non-existent, so that most manufactured products are imported; demand for them grows more rapidly than revenues from exports, hence balance-of-payments roblems accompany development.

Rapid population growth and agricultural stagnation may mean additional pressures on balance of payments, because food has to be imported.

Economic Development in West Africa

Various inputs are required for a region or country to succeed in the process of economic development even though the converse may not be true. In other words, the mere availability of adequate natural resources does ...