PHED, RSNC Chart Path To Improve Service Delivery

The managements of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) and Rivers State Newspaper Corporation (RSNC) have agreed on strategic partnership to improve service delivery to their various customers and publics.
Both organisations made the commitment during a courtesy visit by the management of the corporation to the electricity distribution company (DisCo) in its Moscow Road headquarters in Port Harcourt, last Friday.
Speaking at the event, Managing Director of the company, Dr Henry Ajagbawa, said that PHED was committed to working with the newspaper outfit to increase public awareness on the challenges facing the DisCo, the opportunities offered by the operating environment, and the prospects for improved services to energy consumers in the four franchise states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and Rivers.
Ajagbawa, who was represented by the Chief Services Officer, Ochuko Amah, said the company was doing its best to create the necessary awareness on its obligations to energy consumers and the people’s responsibilities to the DisCo in the four states, but added that PHED was willing to do more as there were rooms for improvement.
He noted that since the birth of PHED about eight years ago, enlightenment campaigns have been consistently implemented across all the franchise states to create awareness on the dangers of vandalisation of electricity assets, consequences of energy theft, and the blow-back of refusal to pay for electricity consumed by customers.
The managing director added that in addition to media campaigns and public education initiatives, special community liaison officers/teams have been engaging beneficiary communities to further deepen interactions with the aim of fostering understanding and cooperation while creating buy-in of stakeholders to protect PHED facilities and also ensure improved revenue inflow.
He said that PHED has also been implementing impactful corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes that contribute to national development in many ways through interventions to enhance quality education, healthcare delivery and social development in communities, particularly among the vulnerable ones.
Ajagbawa said, “On our CSR, during the COVID-19 pandemic era in 2020, we donated over 1,400 bags of rice, we held a women’s week in 2020; we visited the Motherless Babies’ Home in Port Harcourt in 2020; we supplied complete set of school bags to one of the state government-owned primary schools in Port Harcourt.
“We sponsored Innovate Arts Academy for schools worth over N2.8million in Bayelsa State in 2021; we sponsored school children’s competition in 2021; and most recently during the 2022 Children’s Day, we donated over 1, 000 writing materials to schools in Rivers and Cross River states,” he said.
He said that the initiatives were designed to build confidence in the people as a good corporate citizen working to enhance the livelihoods and living conditions of customers in the franchise states, adding that people in communities need to see PHED staff as friends and facilities as critical infrastructure they should protect at all times.
Responding to the corporation’s request for smoother working relationships and collaborations, Ajagbawa said that PHED was ready to escalate its media penetration and presence to reach more target groups and customers, just as it was committed to fashioning novel strategies to improve partnership with RSNC to deliver quality services to the people.
In his remarks, the General Manager, RSNC, Chief Ernest Chinwo, thanked the management of PHED for the warm reception, and said that the management of the corporation was at PHED to seek areas of mutual collaboration.
He said that as a newspaper publishing outfit, which was also involved in other commercial printing jobs, the corporation desperately needed the support of the DisCo in the regular supply of electricity, especially on its production days: Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Chinwo said that the partnership has become even more compelling because of the rising cost of alternative sources of energy due to high cost of petroleum products and inflation, and suggested possible channels of collaboration that could add value to their respective businesses.
“The RSNC, most people know us as publishers of The Tide, but we are more than just that: We do all kinds of commercial printing jobs. In fact, we have a full commercial printing department, and we can do a lot of content designs and printing for agencies, organizations and individuals.”
He said that although the corporation was paying its bills regularly, it was also ready to open more areas of synergy to guarantee a win-win business solution to both partners and their various stakeholders.
The general manager expressed surprise at the huge investments PHED has made to sharpen its CSR interventions in the four franchise states, and the serious challenges it was facing, and added that The Tide was desirous of working with the DisCo to further engage the people with a view to improving the operating environment for profitability.
“Most people are not aware of the many CSR interventions you have been making in your franchise states and the serious challenges posed by the massive vandalisation of your infrastructure and assets, sustained energy theft, huge debts owed by electricity consumers who refuse to pay bills, and frequent attacks on your staff by people who are deliberately trying to run away from their responsibilities.
“Maybe, you are not communicating the issues enough to the populace. Therefore, you need to do more. We offer you our platform to tell your stories on a regular basis,” Chinwo said.
He also said, “Of the state government-owned newspapers in the whole of South-South and South-East, and indeed, Nigeria, we make bold to say that we are not just outstanding but we are the most regular on the newsstand. We come out three times a week and we are reliable and steady. Sometimes, when special occasions demand, we come out four or five times a week. We have been in the business of serving the Government and people of Rivers State, and of course, Niger Deltans and Nigerians for more than 50 years. And we are still very strong competitors in the business and confident about the future”, he added.

By: Nelson Chukwudi