▪️By Darlington Chikwe
Gov Ikpeazu with dignitaries unveiling the book
Nigeria’s former Minister of Power, Professor Bart Nnaji, has explained why he resigned his post as the Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States and Director of e-Design of the United States National Science Foundation to lead a team of Nigerians to set up a 188-megawatt power plant in Aba and an electricity distribution company, also in Aba, Abia State.
Speaking at the 58th birthday of Abia State governor Okezie Ikpeazu this afternoon at the governor’s country home in Umuoboakwa, Obingwa Local Government Area, Professor Nnaji gave two reasons for the decision.
They are the experience he had when he purchased a large expanse of land in Emene to build a company to manufacture vehicle spare parts, including auto engines, only to discover that it couldn’t take off because of the poor electricity situation in the Southeast in particular and the country in general.
Gov Ikpeazu (in white) in a group photograph with panel speakers
“I am passionate about the rapid development of AlaIgbo. If the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Aba or the Aba Power distribution firm in Osisioma had been located in Ikeja or Ilupeju Industrial Estate or in Agbara Industrial Layout, we would not have experienced a nine-year tussle over the right ownership of the Aba-Ringed Fence Area which took a toll on the financers of the project, the investors, the host community, suppliers, contractors, the Aba business community and the people and government of Abia State. The return of investment would have been quicker and bigger. But the strategic reason for locating both the generation and distribution arms of Geometric Power Group here in Aba would have been missed. Only the investors and promoters of Geometric Power would have benefitted directly, but the people and governments of AlaIgbo would be the losers”.
The second reason is the request from the then Nigerian Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, now the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the then World Bank President, Dr James Wolfohnson, to build a power 50MW plant in Aba to assist both big and small manufacturers.
“They made the request in 2004 after visiting Aba and saw the enormous economic and technological potential of this city, the headquarters of indigenous technology in Nigeria”, explained the former minister, “but was being paralysed by poor electricity.
“Both Dr Okonjo-Iweala and Dr Wolfohnson asked me to consider building this power plant because a team of Nigerian engineers I led had successfully built a 22MW emergency power plant in Abuja in 2001 to supply uninterrupted electricity to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation headquarters in Abuja, State House, Central Bank and the Abuja Business District.
Sitting 2nd from right: Gov Okezie Ikpeazu and other dignitaries
“What they didn’t know is that I was already reflecting over how I could help ameliorate the terrible electricity situation in the Southeast.
“We can say without fear of contradiction that the request from Okonjo-Iweala and Wolfohnson was a divine intervention”.
Prof Nnaji said that the provision of basic infrastructure like electricity in the Southeast and elsewhere in Igboland would trigger the begining of a development miracle from which all Nigerians would benefit.
It is imperative, he stated, that the Igbo and all the people of the former Eastern Region regain the development momentum of the First Republic during which the government and people built the University of Nigeria, African Continental Bank, Nigeria Cement Company at Nkalagu in today’s Ebonyi State, the Nigersteel company, Nigergas, Hotel Presidential and many others which enabled the region to become the fastest developing place in the world in the mid-1960s.
The industrial engineering professor said that if he had located the Geometric Power plant in Ikeja Industrial Estate or Ilupeju Industrial Layout in Lagos State or in the Agbara Estate in Ogun State, he would have got faster return on investment, but Igboland “which is in dire need of such infrastructure would continue to suffer”.
Prof. Nnaji (middle) with other panelists
He paid a glowing tribute to Nnewi people in Anambra State for resolving successfully to develop their homeland after the Nigerian civil war even without roads and electricity.
“The Nnewi initiative is an eloquent example of what the Igbo can do once they have the opportunity”, he said, asking other communities to feel challenged by Nnewi accomplishments.
Nnaji observed that rapid development of Eastern Nigeria would make it unnecessary for “millions of our people to leave for Lagos, Abuja or overseas in search of better living conditions.
“I, therefore, urge all Eastern investors to start thinking home. Charity starts at home”.
Other speakers at the Governor Ikpeazu 58th birthday colloquium included Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria who chaired it, Darl Uzu, Chief promoter of the Enyimba Economic City, veteran journalist Ray Ekpu and Ohanaeze president general George Obiozor represented by Chief Alex Ogbonna.
Read full text of Prof. Nnaji’s speech:
“Speech by Professor Bart Nnaji, CON, NNOM, FAS, Chairman of Geometric Power Group, at the Colloquium in Honour of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, Governor of Abia State, on his 58th Birthday on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
“Your Excellency, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, and other dignitaries here,
“I would like to start this brief speech by wishing our host, His Excellency, a most memorable 58th birthday. This is truly a birthday with a difference.
“The issue which dominates the Nigerian space now is politics, especially the general election of February, 2022. Our host, Governor Ikpeazu, is a senatorial candidate. Still, he has not asked us to discuss partisan politics of any sort. This is very unusual, all the more so in an environment of hyper politics. Thanks, Your Excellency, for choosing to be different.
“Many people in Abia State and beyond were expecting this birthday to be celebrated with fanfare. After all, this is Dr Ikpeazu’s last birthday in office as the Abia State governor. But the governor has decided to provide us with food for thought rather than food for the stomach. Food for thought is what lasts a lifetime, and not food for the stomach. So, we can’t thank His Excellency enough for this thoughtful gesture.
“There is another reason for expressing gratitude to His Excellency: He has not called us to engage in panegyrics for him but rather to think about the common good—not even for Abia State or the Southeast alone but for the entire Igbo world. This is Ubuntu philosophy in action: I am because we are. It is always wonderful to place the public good above all considerations.
“I am passionate about the rapid development of AlaIgbo. If the 188MW Geometric Power Plant in Aba or the Aba Power distribution firm in Osisioma had been located in Ikeja or Ilupeju Industrial Estate or in Agbara Industrial Layout, we would not have experienced a nine-year tussle over the right ownership of the Aba-Ringed Fence Area which took a toll on the financers of the project, the investors, the host community, suppliers, contractors, the Aba business community and the people and government of Abia State. The return of investment would have been quicker and bigger. But the strategic reason for locating both the generation and distribution arms of Geometric Power Group here in Aba would have been missed. Only the investors and promoters of Geometric Power would have benefitted directly, but the people and governments of AlaIgbo would be the losers.
“When our dear sister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was appointed the Minister of Finance in 2003, she invited the then World Bank president, the late James Wolfohnson, to Aba to see, firsthand, Aba’s tremendous economic and technological potential. After the visit in 2004, I was asked by the duo to consider building a 50 megawatt power plant in Abia for manufacturers, both big ones like the Star Paper Mill and small ones like the hundreds of excellent shoemakers in the leather products industry and clothiers in the garment industry at Ariaria International Market. They approached me obviously because I had led a small team of dedicated Nigerian engineers and entrepreneurs to build a 22 megawatt Emergency Plant in Abuja in 2001 for the supply of electricity to State House, the NNPC headquarters, the Abuja Business District and other places. I acceded to the request by Dr Okonjo-Iweala and Dr Wolfohnson. What the two did not realize is that my enthusiastic acceptance was because the plant would be located in Aba. This city has a special place in the heart and mind of every person interested in our country’s rapid progress: It is the home of indigenous manufacturing, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Cross section of guests
“There is another reason why I accepted to build the plant in Aba: it is in AlaIgbo. I had experienced, firsthand, what industrialists in Igboland were going through. As a professor of manufacturing engineering in the United States in the 1990s, I decided to build a plant in Emene, Enugu, to produce vehicle spare parts, including engines, of the highest standard in the world. After all, I had watched my former students from Taiwan and other places in Southeast Asia rush home to produce sophisticated auto parts and engines. A large swath of land was purchased for this purpose, but when my South Korean partners visited Enugu, it became obvious that the project would not take off principally because of poor electricity. It was while I was thinking of how to help resolve the electricity problem in AlaIgbo that Dr Okonjo-Iweala and Dr Wolfohnson made the request. The rest is history.
“Yet, I must add it has since 2004 been tears, sweat and blood, to borrow the words of Winston Churchill, the former British prime minister. I don’t want to tell the story of sweat, tears and blood here; all I can say now is that the game is worth the candle. Nothing can give as much fulfillment and satisfaction as working wholeheartedly for your people. It took the Nnewi people quite a lot when they decided to develop their hometown themselves. Even without basic infrastructure like roads, electricity and telephone services, the Nnewi people decided to take their destiny in their hands after the Nigerian Civil War. They have made a resounding success of this resolve and vision. The Nnewi example is inspiring, and it should inspire all the people and governments in Igboland. Millions of NdiIgbo need not be in Abuja or Port Harcourt or even abroad to do well. Leaders in Igboland in the 1940s till recent years did demonstrate to us that it is possible to have rapid economic progress in our homeland. They built Nigercem at Nkalagu in 1955, Nigersteel, Nigergas, African Continental Bank, University of Nigeria, the farm settlements, Emene Industrial Estate in Enugu, the Trans Amadi Industrial Estate in Port Harcourt, Golden Guinea Brewery, the Obudu Cattle Ranch, Hotel Presidential, Premier Breweries and many other things which culminated in Eastern Nigeria becoming the fastest-growing economy in the world by the mid-1960s.
1st right, Alex Ogbonna rep President General Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo George Obiozor
“Geometric Power Ltd is making its contribution to help reclaim the old economic days of the Great Zik of Africa, Dr MI Okpara and many others. Once Geometric Power addresses the electricity challenge in nine (9) out of 17 local government areas in Abia State fully, not even the sky will be the limit of the attainments of the people and government of Abia State. Abia can set the stage of development miracle which has been waiting to happen. The emergence of Enyimba Economic City soon in Ukwa East, Ukwa West and Ugwunagbo LGAs, and working in concert and in a symbiotic manner will totally change the industrial landscape of AlaIgbo. This is what I envision will happen with collaboration by Igbo entrepreneurs in development of AlaIgbo and building the best diversified industrial region on the continent of Africa. We have the tools and people to achieve this. Now, let us engage ourselves in pursuit of this Dubai-like dream. Let us think home!
“Thanks, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, the Birthday Boy, for his unflinching support for this project during his tenure, and for providing this forum for Igbo people to reflect on development of their homeland. Many more years of good health, happiness and devotion to God and humankind”.
Source: GMTNews
