PHED explains why MDAs must pay debt to avoid disconnection

ITRealms:

The Port-Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) has explained that payment of outstanding debt by government’s ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is of paramount importance if the electricity supply industry is to survive in Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

The Chief Executive Officer, PHED, Mr. Jay McCoskey, in a press statement made available to ITRealms by Manager, Corporate Communications, Mr. Jonah Iboma, said the country’s electricity industry has remained in dire straits due to huge unpaid debt, which informed the decision to publish disconnection notices to all MDAs indebted to it.

He also said that the refusal of MDAs to pay their long-standing debts represented the biggest worry of the distribution companies in the country today, maintaining that distribution companies were already grappling with too many issues such that adding MDAs would constitute a burden too big for the industry to bear.

“As a distribution company, PHED inherited a weak network, a relatively small customer base compared to the population, massive electricity theft and several other social ills related to electricity supply. For MDAs therefore to join these barrages of problems by continuously refusing bills payment is like a death sentence to the industry,” he said.

Also, McCoskey said that given the huge revenue shortfall that PHED like other distribution companies were experiencing, mass disconnection would have to be done to force a change in the payment habits of consumers.

“We have issued disconnection notices to all MDAs while at the same time engaging all other indebted customers to ensure that they paid their bills. The industry no longer runs on government subvention,” he noted.

Further, McCoskey said that there would be marked improvement in service delivery once there is better revenue collection from customers, especially MDAs, stressing that PHED had already demonstrated this by recent initiatives that it has embarked upon.

“Our goal is to provide our customers reliable service in terms of power supply and overall customer experience. That is why we recently launched a 24x7 call centre and invested heavily in several building commercial lines that provide dedicated power to commercial users.

“We believe that by giving power to companies, factories and industrial outfits, such organisations will be able to continue to produce their goods and offer services competitively and keep people employed. We hope that we will get government support through prompt payment of bills and historical debts by MDAs,” McCoskey submitted.

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Etisalat elevates Dairo, Ogiemwanye, Uwaoma to Directors

ITRealms:

Etisalat Nigeria, Monday announced the elevation of three heads of departments to the position of directors, reports ITRealms.

Those elevated are Adeolu Dairo as Director, Consumer Segment, Elvis Ogiemwanye as Director, Brand & Experience and Eric Uwaoma as Director, Enterprise Segment.

Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Francesco Angelone, confirmed this, saying “over the years, Adeolu, Elvis and Eric have played pivotal roles in driving many of our positive customer and market results.”

He also said that the appointments followed a rigorous process, focused on identifying and selecting the best internal talents within the organisation and will further support the company in the delivery of innovative products and services to meet the demands of its customers.

He pointed out that Adeolu Dairo was previously Head, Customer Value Management (CVM) where he was responsible and instrumental in deepening Etisalat’s organizational capability in marketing and customer analytics. In his new role as Director, Consumer Segment, he will lead his team in articulating and implementing the key pillars of Etisalat’s marketing strategy in the High Value, Mass market and Youth Segments.

Elvis Ogiemwanye, he said, was previously Head, Youth Segment where he successfully worked with his team to build Etisalat’s youth brand (EasyCliq) as well as develop the teen segment (Cliqlite). As Director, Brand & Experience, he will assume overall responsibility for execution of strategies that enhance the Etisalat brand value and equity as well as customers’ experience across all touch-points.

Whereas, Eric Uwaoma was previously Head, Enterprise Sales where he played a pioneering role in setting up Etisalat’s Enterprise team, from recruiting experienced sales executives, to developing processes and growing the company’s share of the business market. In his role as Director, Enterprise Segment, Eric will be responsible for leading the entire Enterprise function – including sales, marketing, and after-sales support – to continuously improve Etisalat’s share and profitability among all business customers across the country.

“These appointments reflect the fact that, as an organization, Etisalat remains committed to growing its people through careers that meaningfully build on experiences – including work-related challenges, opportunities, and achievements – to prepare talented employees for more responsibility even as the business evolves,” he said.

The CMO maintained that Etisalat is committed to empowering individuals and our communities to empower the nation just as he looks forward to the benefits of the transforming leadership that will follow these new appointments.

@ITRealms

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Pix: Uwaoma+Eric and Dairo, newly promoted director @ Etisalat Nigeria