Abuja, Nigeria. November 10, 2010
Nigerians Ready to Pay More for Improved Power Supply
An overwhelming proportion of Nigerians are willing to pay more for electricity if they can get the preferred level of power supply they desire. Also a significant percentage of Nigerians consider availability of power to be the most important priority in power supply, irrespective of who the supplier is and many people report an improvement in their power supply over the past months.
These are some of the key findings distilled from the Nigerian Power Sector Poll, a survey conducted in three waves, between June 2010 and September 2010 by NOI Polls; the country’s leading opinion polling organisation in partnership with the Nigerian Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF). The special survey was designed to track and assess the opinions, attitudes and preferences of Nigerians on the current state of electricity supply in the country against the background of the ongoing efforts of the Federal Government to implement far reaching reforms.
The findings make it clear that the nation’s poor track record in this critical area continues to attract deep public concern over the inadequacy of supply which has persisted in spite of the well advertised efforts of successive governments to improve the poor level of generation and distribution. Previous surveys by NOI Polls have shown that most Nigerians would like to see governments at all levels to focus on achieving a significant improvement in the current poor and irregular level of electricity supply which has persisted for so long.
The power sector survey revealed that about 96% of Nigerians would pay more if supply improves to the degree they want.
To the question “if you were to be provided electricity for any specific period/time of the day, which of the following periods would you prefer?”, the highest proportion of respondents – 42% – said they preferred night time supply. Comparatively, 25% said they prefer 24-hr supply; 14% opted for “some hours during each period”.
Another key finding is that three out of four Nigerians (75%) consider availability of supply the most important priority in power supply. 18% ranked predictable supply as their most important priority while 6% put Customer service ahead of other considerations. Significantly, price was the least important consideration in the estimation of the respondents with only 1% giving it a thumbs-up.
Responses to the question “Has there been any changes in light/power/electricity supply to your household in the last two months?” showed that a majority of Nigerians believe that they have experienced some change within the period. 59% of the respondents answered “Yes”. Another significant proportion – 40% – said there was no change in the supply to their household.
Significantly of those that saw a change in their power supply 90% report an improvement. A summary of the key findings:
Majority of Nigerians still rate the government poorly in terms of provision of electricity.
About 1 in 2 respondents have experienced changes in electricity supply to their households within the timeframe of the survey.
The majority of those who experienced changes in the supply of electricity consider the change as an improvement.
Most respondents believe that the government is responsible for the improvement in the supply of light.
Most Nigerians would prefer 24-hour uninterrupted power supply.
Majority of Nigerians would consider paying more than current prices if they are supplied with power for the periods and duration of their preference.
Nigerians consider the availability of power as their top most priority with regards to the supply of electricity.
Overall, there has been noticeable reduction in the governments ’very poor’ performance rating, from the first wave to the third wave of the survey.
More people have experienced an improvement in their power supply in recent times compared to the start of the survey.
Significantly more people attribute the improvement in power supply to the government in subsequent waves than in previous waves of the survey.
In addition, there are more people willing to pay for improved services than there were at the start of the survey.
ABOUT NOI POLLS LTD
NOI Polls is an opinion polling and market research organisation in Nigeria that provides timely and relevant information on people’s perspectives on a variety of social and economic issues. Founded in November 2006, the goal was to establish a premier opinion research firm in Nigeria which periodically provided a barometer of public opinion on a range of social and economic issues. NOI Polls conducts scientific periodic opinion polls in Nigeria in partnership with Gallup Poll (USA), the leading polling and opinion research organization in the world. Principal officers from Gallup are actively involved in the technical aspect of the polls.
Our Methodology
NOI Polls is committed to employing the highest standards of statistical analysis in its polls. It utilizes the well-established survey methodologies, including scientifically tested sampling techniques designed by The Gallup Organization. NOI-Gallup Poll is administered with the Gallup World Poll and the analyses are conducted by a joint team of researchers. As such, the poll benefits from both Gallup’s technical rigour and NOI Polls’ knowledge and experience of the Nigerian context.
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