This Commerce Lesson Note was pulled from our book (Lesson Note on Commerce for SS2 MS-WORD); Compiled to serve as reference material to help teachers draw out their lesson plan easier, saving you valuable time to focus on the core job of teaching.
[su_note note_color=”#fcf2e0″]The Lesson notes are based on the current NERDC curriculum (UBE compliant)[/su_note]
This Commerce Lesson Note Covers The Following Topics
- PUBLIC ENTERPRISES/CORPORATION
- LIMITED COMPANIES
- SOURCES OF CAPITAL FOR LIMITED COMPANIES
- CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES
- REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMODITY TRADING
- COMMODITY MARKET
- CONSTRAINTS TO COMMODITY TRADING
- BUYING AND SELLING (DOCUMENTS)
- TERMS OF TRADE
- CREDIT
- FUNCTIONS OF CREDIT
- TRADE ASSOCIATION
- OTHER FORMS OF TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
- INSURANCE
- CONSUMER PROTECTION
- TYPES OF INSURANCE
- CONSUMER PROTECTION CONTROL
- TRANSPORTATION
- DOCUMENTS INVOLVED IN TRANSPORTATION
- WAREHOUSING
- HISTORY OF NIGERIAN CAPITAL MARKET
- STOCK EXCHANGE
- SECOND-TIER SECURITIES MARKET
- CAPITAL
- PROFIT
- COMMUNICATION
Sample note
Week 1
Topic: Public Enterprises/Corporation
Contents:
- Meaning of public enterprises/Corporation
- formation and management of Public Enterprises
- Sources of Capital, Reasons for government ownership of Public Enterprises
- Advantages and disadvantages of a public corporation
Meaning of Public Enterprises
Public Enterprises means an entity that is created by the state to carry out public missions and services. A public enterprise is a large-scale business organization set up, owned, and financed by the government of a country with the aim of providing services to the members of the public. In order to carry out these public missions and services, a public corporation participates in activities or provides services that are also provided by private enterprises. A public corporation is also known as a public enterprise and a statutory corporation. The public corporation is managed and controlled by the board of directors appointed by the government.
Examples of public corporation are:
- Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (F.R.C.N)
- Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (N.N.P.C)
- Nigerian Telecommunication Limited (NITEL)
- Nigeria Ports Authority (N.P.A)
- Power Holding Company Of Nigeria (P.H.C.N)
Formation of public enterprises
- Public Corporation:public corporations are organizations controlled by board of directors appointed by the government while the minister in charge is the overall controller.
- Quasi Government departments:They perform some commercial functions. They are responsible to the government through the minister, e.g. Hospitals.
- State government owned enterprise:These are enterprises established and controlled by the state government. State government owned enterprise is established by edicts. Example: Lagos State Transport Corporation.
- Local Enterprises: They are managed by the local government; they are mostly facilitated in the rural area to ensure development in such areas.
Sources of capital to public corporations
The government can get finance from the following sources
- Internally generated revenue: This is known as the profit made from the already existing businesses, they get finance from revenue generated internally.
- Grant from foreign countries: Countries like the United State of America can help in granting loans or financial aids to set up public corporation.
- Grant from international financial institution: Public corporation can also get their finance from some international financial institutions like International Monetary Fund (I.M.F)
- Loans and Overdraft: Public corporation can also obtain loans and overdrafts from commercial or development banks.
Reasons for government ownership of Public Enterprises
Public Corporation is established for the following reasons
- Employment opportunities: This is one of the major reasons for the establishment of a public corporation, the provision of business by the government creates an avenue for the unemployed to get a job to do.
- For strategic and security reasons: The Government establishes a public corporation for the purpose of controlling certain key industries like airports, seaports, the oil industry for strategic reasons.
- To provide infrastructural facilities: The governments also establish certain enterprises to provide infrastructural facilities like roads. railways etc
- To prevent Monopolistic: The Government established public corporations also to prevent private sectors from exploiting the general public.
- To promote Economic Development: Government invests in enterprises like banks, insurance, etc in order to have firm control over the economy and to regulate it.
- To ensure even distribution of income: Government engages in some business enterprises in order to ensure fair and even distribution of income.
- To prevent foreign dominance of the economy: The government ventures into business in order to prevent or reduce foreign control of the economy by foreign investors.
- High capital requirement: Public corporation requires a lot of money to start which cannot be provided by private sectors or individuals.
Advantages of public corporation
The following points below are the reason/ advantages of a public corporation. Some of which are:
- There will be availability of large and sufficient capital to work with.
- They base their decisions on the full costs and benefits involved.
- They can be used to influence economic activity. To boost the country’s output, public corporations can be directly encouraged to increase their output.
- In cases where it is practical to have only one firm in the industry, such as rail infrastructure, a public corporation would not abuse its market power.
- Ownership of a whole industry by the government makes planning and coordination easier. For instance, if the state runs the train system, it can ensure that train timetables are coordinated.
- It is important to ensure that basic industries, so much as electricity and transport survive, charge low prices and produce good quality as other domestic industries depend on them.
- It serves as a creation of higher standard of living for the people.
- It also caters for the interest of the workers.
- There will be continuity; there is perpetual existence.
- Avoidance of exploitation of consumers.
Disadvantages of Public Corporation
The following below are the disadvantages of Public corporations.
- It requires a large capital
- There is inefficiency in the operation
- There is usually corruption and mismanagement of the public funds
- It is not profitable
- There is a lack of initiative
- There is a lack of privacy
- There is usually wastage
- There is a danger of monopoly
- Decision making is usually slow
- Government regular interference.

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