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Professor Bart Nnaji is an alluring personality that is made of a sterner stuff. A friend once recommended him to speak at the 2001 Students Week of Abia State University, Uturu. As the then Students Union President, I wanted an accomplished Igbo professional to inspire our youngsters. And Nnaji fitted the bill as an expert in a relatively new discipline of Robotics Engineering. That was my first time of learning of that specialty in engineering. Although we later settled for Dr. Chuba Okadigbo because Nnaji was already scheduled for another event on the same day, he visited the campus a day ahead, to encourage us. I am sharing this story to show that Nnaji’s large-heartedness even to people he could ignore, is congenital.
Beyond what is known about Nnaji in the public space, it was through my senior friend, C. Don Adinuba, an amiable media personality and a great ally of Nnaji that I got to know a little about what Nnaji passed through in the 20-year crucible of establishing Geometric Power Limited in Aba. The Bureau of Public Enterprises had erroneously (or manipulatively) lumped the Aba-Ringed Fence area (covering nine
LGAs in Abia State) into the territory sold to Interstate Electrics as EEDC in 2013, ignoring the fact that the right of ownership had been transferred to Geometric Power since 2005, with huge amount of borrowed money already sunk into the project. Th 9-year swim-or-sink legal battle with vested interests in government made Ikechukwu Amaechi to ask: “Why did the system subject a citizen who was just desirous of contributing his quota to national development at no cost whatsoever to Nigerian state to such trauma for so long? He painted a gloomy picture this way: “Barth Nnaji’s tortuous journey to lighting up Aba explains, most graphically, why the rest of the country will remain in darkness for a long time.”
Nnaji’s 70th birthday event last Friday at the tastefully-finished International Conference Centre, Enugu was a time of glowing tributes. The virtues that kept reoccurring in speeches by guests were his patriotism, resilience, humanity, mental toughness, and can-do spirit in a shark-infested business environment. It was also heartwarming that some of the critical dramatis personae who witnessed the conception of the noble project and those who saw it out of the woods, were present at the auspicious occasion. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who in 2004, as president of Nigeria, granted the approval of Aba Ring-fenced power zone, was the chairman of the occasion. And at a fireside chat with him moderated by the ace journalist, Olusegun Adeniyi, Obasanjo expressed happiness that Geometric Power is a success story. “When I first encouraged them, I wasn’t sure what would come of it. It was a trial. But now that I’ve seen the outcome, I’m glad I did,” he said.
The keynote speaker, HRH Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II, who spoke on “Energy security and economic growth” was the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria when Geometric Power project was gasping for breath under a heavy debt overhang and bottlenecks of accessing new loans. As explained by Governor Alex Otti of Abia State who was the then Managing Director of Diamond Bank, it was Sanusi who used his discretion to give lifeline to Geometric and enabled it to access more facilities from the Diamond Bank. The first breather, according to Otti, was the conversion of Geometric Power dollar-denominated loan to Naira which changed therisk profile. Apart from thanking former president Obasanjo for approving the project, Otti also commended Vice President Kashim Shettima who was represented at the event, for helping to resolve the gas supply challenge faced by Geometric Power project in its take-off stage. He recalled that it was that the VP’s marching order which was carried out in 5 weeks that resulted in the commissioning of the power plant on February 26, 2024. On the other hand, Nnaji acknowledged the efforts of Otti from when he was in the First Bank with Emir Sanusi to when Otti became the MD of Diamond Bank, and now, the host governor of Geometric Power project.
Reflecting on how an idea that meets a willing hand can make a whole lot of difference, Nnaji explained that he got fired up after Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, then Minister of Finance brought then President of World Bank, late Dr. James Wolfohson to have a glimpse of Aba’s commercial and industrial potential. During the visit, Aba business community unanimously requested them to assist in ensuring a stable electricity supply to boost their businesses. The duo then turned to Nnaji and requested him to help in solving the electricity problem in Aba. Before then, Nnaji had led a team that built a 22-megawatt emergency power plant for the State House, Abuja, NNPC headquarters and Abuja business community in 2001. He had also purchased a large swath of land to establish a power plant in Emene, Enugu for the production of vehicle spare parts and engines in partnership with South Koreans. It however became a pipe dream because of poor electricity supply.
So, Nnaji saw the request to build a power plant in Aba as an opportunity to jumpstart the economic fortunes of Ala Igbo which excelled during Azikiwe and M. I. Okpara’s era. Though it would have been more profitable to site such strategic investments in industrial areas of Lagos and Ogun States, but in his thinking, it would not benefit the people and governments in Ala Igbo. “I am passionate about rapid development of Nigeria, starting from Ala Igbo because of the structural problems it has faced since the end of the Nigeria civil war in 1970 and also because of its enormous technological and economic potential,” he recounted in a colloquium in 2022. In the same vein, the host governor, Barr. Peter Mba of Enugu State commended him, noting that the defining stuff of his life is not that he went abroad and succeeded but that he returned with his experience to serve humanity.
May Nnaji’s footprints inspire others living abroad to think of investing at home.
