▪️By Matthias Chima Nriji
Prof Bart Nnaji, Chairman/CEO of Geometric Power Ltd, a notable Gubernatorial aspirant in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 election in Enugu State, was born to the family of late Chief Emmanuel Nnaji Onovo and Ozieme Mrs. Alice Nev Nnaji of Umu Onovo Ekpa family kindred of Umuode Community in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State. Prof Bart Nnaji is highly educated in the field of science and engineering. He obtained the Bachelors degree (B.Sc) in physics from St John’s University, New York, USA, a Master’s Degree and and Ph.D in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Systems Engineering, as well as a Post Doctoral Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Massachusetts, USA. One of the world’s most formidable scientists of our time, Prof Bart Nnaji has been the Chairman of the South East Region Economic Development Corporation since 2016, and currently a member/alternate chairman of the Enugu State Economic Advisory Committee since 2015.
Philanthropy is his second nature. The reputable professor through the Bart Nnaji Foundation set up in 1984, had given scholarships to over 1000 Students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria and overseas with over 400 of them having graduated in flying colours from the institutions, and now lawyers, Justice of High Court, medical doctors, engineers, bankers, political scientists, etc. The Foundation has also provided people with social amenities such as water supply equipment to the Umuode town, and has been supporting its operation in tangible ways. The Foundation has also constructed good roads and provided electricity to communities, in addition to other amenities. What is more, it has refurbished and equipped a Science Building in his alma mater, St Patrick’s College, Emene, Enugu. Gestures like the empowerment of people through training in areas of trade and craftsmanship. There are other philanthropic activities which cannot be listed here due to time constraint.
It is to his eternal credit that shortly after his appointment in 1993 as the Minister of Science that he developed the Ministry of Science and Technology so much so that the ministry has since then come to stay, unlike in the past when it was abolished and re-established at the whims and caprices of the government in power. Also notable is that within his 14 months in office as the Minister of Power from 2011 to 2012, Prof Bart Nnaji recorded such incredible achievements as raising the nation’s power generation from 2,400 megawatts to 5,300 megawatts. All the electricity was put successfully on the national grid (transmission network), apart from 320 MW which served as spinning reserve, the first time in Nigeria’s history some power generated has been set aside for unforeseen developments in the transmission network.
In recognition of his numerous achievements and philanthropic service to humanity, different organizations have awarded Prof Nnaji prestigious honours. He was in 2010 conferred with the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) and in 2004 he received the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM), the nation’s highest award for intellectual and artistic attainment. He had earlier received the Honorary Doctor of Science and Doctor of Engineering Awards from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the Federal University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Bells University of Technology, Ota in Ogun State, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Abia State, and Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering,
Some prestigious international awards conferred on Bart Nnaji include Distinguished Scientist Award by World Bank and IMF Africa Group; Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States State Department; the Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award by the International Society of Manufacturing Engineering and Fellowship of the International Institute of Industrial Engineers.
It is therefore, not a surprise that during the screening of PDP members aspiring to contest for the party’s ticket for the 2023 governorship election in the Southeast, Prof Nnaji was the only person given the honour “to take a bow and go.” The seven-man screening committee led by Prof. Yusuf Dankofa from Kaduna State explained that it accorded the honour to only Prof Nnaji in recognition of his contributions to national development over the decades. As he put it, “people like Prof Nnaji are needed in the public service so that the nation can develop rapidly.”
As Rear Admiral Alison Madueke, former Military Governor of old Anambra and Imo states, who later became the first person to head any of the Nigerian Armed Forces since the end of the Civil War in 1970, put it, “all stakeholders in Enugu State have a moral duty to ensure that Prof Nnaji succeeds Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi next year. If our brothers and sisters in Anambra State have got its leadership right with the election of Governor Chukwuma Soludo last November, the good people of Enugu have a duty to elect a technocrat of international repute as our governor.”
The Enugu State PDP in particular and the electorate in general need to consider Prof Bart Nnaji in the 2023 governorship election for transformation of the Coal City State.
Your support for Prof Bart Nnaji is for a rapid change in all sectors of Enugu State economy. Your endorsement of Prof Nnaji is an endorsement for the transformation and service delivery in sectors such as electricity, water supply, education, agriculture and rural development. It is an endorsement for continuous unity and peace as well as a friendly environment in Enugu State. The life and assets of every resident and Enugu person will be safeguarded.
Enugu State has been in the hands of God and as such all well-meaning people of the State should join hands to ensure Prof Nnaji’s emergence as the next governor of Enugu State.
Script By: Matthias Chima Nriji, former Director of Public Affairs, Enugu State Water Corporation, writes from Ozalla, Igbo-Etiti LGA, Enugu State.
