KADUNA ELECTRIC NEWSLETTER JULY EDITION...

Kaduna Electric Staff to Get National ID Cards with Ease

By Halima Shuaibu

Mr. Nuhu Sani, Head, Admin & Security

The Head, Administration and Security of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Mal. Nuhu Sani has hinted that the company may partner with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to make the registration and possession of National ID Card hassle free so that its staff can reap the benefits of owning a National ID Card.

“The advantages of owning the current National ID Cards are enormous and cannot be overemphasized. It is important to both our individual and work lives. In countries like America and South Africa, there are shops where you can present your National ID Cards and get a Tourist Discount”. 

Sani said the company recognizes the numerous benefits attached to having a national ID card but has concerns about long queues and time involved in getting one.

“We have therefore met with officials of NIMC Zonal Office in Kaduna to fashion out a way that it can be done for our staff and their immediate families without them having to waste official hours trying to do so”.

The exercise he stated, would start with all the offices in Kaduna State and then taken to other franchise areas pointing out that it will be done in orderly manner without disrupting the daily schedule of staff. 

“Staff who have misplaced/stolen ID cards can present their National ID Cards as a means of Identification and will be checked against our records where need be”.

According to him, staff have been put into three categories: those who have registered and are yet to receive their cards, those who have not registered at all and those who have registered but whose family members are yet to register. He therefore called on staff give their support by making available needed information without further delay. 

The Kaduna State Government in collaboration with NIMC is generating a State Residency Card for all residents of the state, an initiative Mal. Sani said the company is considering leveraging on in accessing its customers’ Data Record. 

 ‘This will enable us access our Customers Data without having to expend as much resources as we are currently doing on the enumeration exercise”.

Explaining further, he said that the National ID Card has been designed in such a way that it can be used as debit cards adding that the NIMC has an arrangement with Access Bank in that regard.

100% Cash Collection Is the Only Way To Survive

By Nafiu Kabiru

The survival of this company is dependent on a 100% cash collection which is why all hands must be on deck to ensure that energy consumed is equal to cash collected, the Distribution Engineer (DE), Engr. Dogara Saidu of Kebbi Area Office has said. 

Engr. Saidu made this declaration during the Monthly Performance Review meeting with the Marketing team for the month of June in the GRA and Sabon Gari Service Centers recently.

“It is from the revenue generated that salaries are paid. That is why management has taken the pains to devote attention to meter deployment in order to measure every customer’s consumption. We therefore, must work hard to ensure that our targets are met”.

The DE lamented what he described as “lax attitude” to monitoring among some members of the Marketing Team, which he said is hampering cash collection.   

“There is need for constant monitoring of the meters to ensure that they are not bypassed and offending customers are penalized; also to make sure that issues of vandalism are reported to the right channel for proper action. We cannot hold our arms and allow customers to toy with our means of livelihood"

Engr. Saidu also directed the Team to visit every home that a meter has been installed while announcing the reassignment of some Metering Supervisor, which according to him takes immediate effect. 

He advised the reassigned Metering Supervisors on the need to lead by example pointing out that leadership is a burden that needs wisdom and sincerity of purpose to succeed.

Drop in Revenue from Sokoto Area Office Irks Marketing Chief

By Umar Muhammad  

(L-R)Chief Marketing and Customer Services Officer, Mal. Murtala Bello, Mal. Abubakar Ibrahim Hashim while addressing the Marketing Team in Sokoto recently

The Chief Marketing and Customer Service Officer Kaduna Electric, Mal. Murtala Bello has charged Feeder Supervisors and Sales Representatives of Sokoto Area Office to work hard and smart to meet their target so that the company can meet its target in terms of revenue generation.

 Mallam Bello made this remark during a cash collection monthly review meeting recently.

He lamented the poor revenue generated in the month of June which he said was a significant drop of about fifty-million-naira MD, Non-MD and prepaid adding that the management is taking the issue of target very serious hence his visit to Sokoto.

He urged them to re-strategize so that they can meet their target adding that Sokoto Area Office and Doka Area Office, few months back were contributing almost 40% of the total revenue generated by the Company.

He also warned the staff against giving excuses that some of their customers are salary earners, saying that he would not want to hear such excuses because if a customer could recharge their DSTV and fuel their cars on monthly basis, why not pay for their electricity bills since it is also part of an essential house commodity. 

Mr. Bello stated that it is equally important for each employee to understand his or her role in our Company, and the given performance target. He emphasized the need for staff to work as a team towards improving the cash collection of the Area office in particular and Kaduna Electric in general.

In his address The Business Development & Relationship Officer, Sokoto Area Officer, Abubakar Ibrahim Hashim, promised that the remaining months of the year, all efforts will be made to ensure that Sokoto Area Office makes good the worst collection recorded in June.

He called on the supervisors to be more proactive, go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that will enhance the revenue collection of their respective centers.

With regards to the MD customers, the BDRO urged the supervisors to have a good relationship with these customers because the MD customers are now handled by different service centers. 

Mr Hashim implored the staff to remove all the roadblocks so that the legitimate revenue of the company can be realized; he advocated personalized marketing sales strategy where sales representatives will familiarize themselves with their customers on intimate basis.

He further stated that every job assigned, a target will be given, and the growth of the employee in the company would depend on the performance and advised them to always works as a team aimed at improving the revenue collection.

Attach Importance to All Training Programmes, L&D Officer Appeals to Staff

By Asma’u Mohammed

Tiloda Sabo, Training Manager

The Learning and Development Officer, Tiloda Sabo, has appealed to staff to take all trainings programmes organize for them serious and consider such as an opportunity to empower themselves and be mentors to others.

She made the appeal during the interview with CCD in her office recently.

According to her “even though the Unit is still at it infant stage, but a lot is being done to provide the staff with the necessary trainings for greater productivity and efficient service delivery”. 

The Learning and Development Officer stressed the importance of training and capacity building to the overall success of the Company. In her words “The Company is committed to meeting the demands of customers and the Unit is not resting on it oars. Like now, if look at our Customer Service Officers, they are carrying different faces when compared to when we came in. Then, the Customer Service Officers and the Cashiers were the main issues because there are the ones interfacing with the customers directly, so most of the customers complaints were against them, so we tried to show them customers’ relations techniques and other inter personal communication ethics they need to perform as a frontline officers and now there are less complaints and they are exhibiting more professionalism, now our environment is more conducive for customers so we are able to conquer that issues and I believed is a great achievement.

She applauded the efforts of the Management so far and appealed for improvement. “They have been doing it but not enough sincerely speaking there is room for improvement”, she contended.

She also disclosed that the Unit is planning leadership training for Senior Marketing Supervisors and Supervisors which is coming up in due course. “We have leadership training program that we are preparing for Senior Marketing Supervisors and Supervisors to equip them with general knowledge of the job. This is because as a leader, if you don’t perform well, your subordinate will not give out good productivity. They equally need to know what it takes to be a leader and we are also going to gaive them technical for non-technical staff trainings because most of the technicians report to them, including the engineers so they need to know some basic technical terms and operations procedures as well as causes of power failure, types of faults, distribution and injection sub-stations, 33 and 11KV lines etc. We are collaborating with the National Power Training Institute (NAPTI) in this regard”.