GEOMETRIC POWER PLANT: TIME TO FOCUS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ‘ALA IGBO’ PROPER

Opinion
By Nkem Ossai

God, in Genesis 1:3 said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw how good the light was. This is a clear indication of how important light should be in the life of a created being especially humans.

Less than two weeks after the official launch of Prof. Barth Nnaji’s Geometric Power Station in Aba, Abia State, investors are said to be lining up to move to Aba and indeed move Abia State to the next level.

Infact, reliable sources indicate that a world renowned tyre company, Maxxis Tyres Taiwan, plans to establish a full-scale tyre production plant in the city.

This is as a result of the envisaged steady power supply in the city courtesy of the Geometric Power Station. Reports indicate that there is plans to extend same to 8 other LGAs’ in the state.

It is also said that the Taiwanese Directors of Maxxis Tyre will arrive Aba any moment from now for negotiations. The same report also added that Neimeth, a Pharmaceutical Company, is contemplating relocating to Aba. Light is indeed everything.

Does this sound a note of warning to those who have chosen rather wickedly to drive Igbos away from Lagos by continuously targeting and posing existential threats to Igbo business interests? Yes. It does. It is just a matter of time. If the feat performed by Prof. Nnaji is repeated in two other South Eastern States, that will be more than enough to drive the much talked about “Igbo land industrialization.”

The 188MW Geometric Power Plant is a dream come true for the robotics expert, Prof. Barth Nnaji who was relieved of his post as a Minister of Science and Technology in Buhari’s government, unceremoniously.

If Prof. Nnaji was not a determined soul, Buhari’s clannishness would have ended this endeavour. Not only that, he would have ended up retiring in his home village frustrated. No wonder they say, “educated minds cannot be enslaved unless we have our lips chopped off.

This effort should be seen as a clarion call to South East governments to come together, pull their resources and begin a massive drive towards establishing more Geometric Power Plants in their zone.

God being the author of all that is good, and in this case, Nigeria and her irrational persecution of the Igbos has tragically lost the good that Ndigbo represents and now found themselves in a doldrum of contemptible situation. According to Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, you cannot defend a problem you denied.

Nigeria denied Igbos, and time without number, tried to imperil every effort they make at developing Nigeria. The most recent is what happened during the last election. I leave that to God and the conscience of the powers that be.

Wole Soyinka once said that Nigeria is a blasted country. Never mind the fact that today, he is singing a new tune. In this country, the political miasma is capable of swallowing even the angel.

Thank you Prof. Nnaji for this milestone. As we celebrate you and your ingenuity, which is a trait found in every Igbo man, we urge you to not rest on your oars until every community in Igbo land can enjoy 24 hours uninterrupted light.

For those other Nigerians that have chosen to make Igbo people their punching bag, I have this advice for them: mankind’s capacity for inhumanity, is simultaneously alien but painfully familiar.