Is privatization the best option?

According to Wikipedia, privatization "Primarily, it is the process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency, public service or public property from the public sector (a government) to the private sector, either to a business that operate for a profit or to a non-profit organization. It may also mean government outsourcing of services or functions to private firms, e.g. revenue collection, law enforcement, and prison management

To we laymen, privatization is simply the handing over of public property to an individual. On paper, this is the best way to manage utilities and infrastructures. We also heard it is the best way to manage businesses as the buyer will manage it better since it is now his source of wealth. But what we laymen want to know is "how where these entities privatized"? Who is doing the buying?

From water, to power and now roads, every public/ government facility is been sold out all in the name of privatization. In some areas it has proved the best option but can we vouch that it is the way forward in the nearest future especially with the way the process is being managed? In Nigeria, only the likely faces buy everything. The same names are head over and over again acquiring public utilities and no one seems to be talking about it. From Power privatization, to refineries, to roads etc. the same people are seen penning their signatures to these utilities. What then happens to the public? Does this mean the general masses do not have control over things they can demand from their government? We pay taxes to the government, what will they be used for if all these utilities/ infrastructure and now owned by individuals? All these make one to believe in a wider conspiracy to mortgage our future in the hands of certain individuals.

Have we ever bothered to know the long-term side effects of these privatizations? Here are some which I believe affects us; the majority

1. Since these infrastructures are now in the hands of certain individuals, there is high probability that these services might become worse overtime. This is due to the fact that the owners know they have the power to do what they like with these infrastructures being that it is their business. Nobody can actually hold them accountable because it is their business. For example telecoms have gone wide but service provided gets worst by the day.

2. Like what we are seeing in the power sector, despite poor performance, cost of services/ goods will go up overtime. This is because there is little or no competitive good/ service to compete with them.

3. As they are now private entities, you cannot hold them for poor performance. It is their business so if you do not like it, find someone else. In this case, there is no "someone else" but them. You cannot hold a business owner accountable for his business.

4. The most overlooked aspect of privatization is workforce. The staff of privately managed firms are subjected to every and numerous inhuman conditions and since there are no jobs out there, people are made to work under extreme conditions. If managed by the government, there are laid down criteria for promotion and working conditions which is absent in public companies.

5. Once privatization is carried out, it is very difficult to reverse the policy. This is because those involved might have had various commitments with the buyers.

Note here that I am not disputing the fact that if managed well, privatization may be the best option but in the Nigeria of today privatization might end up being our doom. When government officials take bribe to award some companies, when individual and selfish interests come before the good of the nation, when people in-charge of the  privatization process have huge interests in the entity they are to privatize, then, we know that doom is not far. this is why privatized companies are getting worse than they were before they were sold.

For privatization to work very well in this country, the market should be open and fair. Take for example PHCN power generation and distribution companies. Except for very few areas, power distribution elements (wires & transformers) have already been installed by the government. If possible, multiple organizations should be able to manage the same area. In that way, consumers will be able to choose the source of their power. This will also help in regulation of cost. Also, government officials and their organizations' are to be exempted from any privatization process. If possible, foreign consultants should be hired; through a transparent process, to coordinate the process.