If you know Dr Akindele you will agree with me that he is imbued with boundless energy.
I hadn’t seen or heard from him in a while so i reached out. He asked me to come to see him in his office and i went.
He wasn’t there for the first appointment and we agreed to meet the next day. I went there and met his son who was ‘working’ there on holiday.
The handsome young lad looked up at me and said, how can i help you? He couldn’t be more than 13years old but his confidence and deep interest in my welfare struck me
I said, ‘I’m looking for Dr Akindele’he said ok, sit here and wait, he will soon be with you. Impressed, I asked, do you work here? And he said,’ yes for now
I smiled. Dr walked in, looking like a holidaymaker in Maimi. He has always been a colourful dresser his Valentino shirt striking envy in me and his jeans which were graffiti adorned a class act. He tampered it down with classic white sneakers.
His fashion sense has always been impeccable. You could see that he enjoyed life and loved life. His expensive hand bangles all attest to his robust approach towards life
Edgar, it’s remarkable he enthused. I said I can imagine. He was talking about his new project – Energy Park.
I had seen the model when I visited his office in Victoria Island and in his absence, one of his top officers had taken me on a tour.
Edgar, screamed,’ it has a Refinery, CNG, and Power generation capability and would soon start LPG. It’s a complete Energy park that we have dropped in Edo State.
I could see his pride and his enthusiasm to engage with me on this new project.
We are partnering with Summit Oil as we move hydrocarbon from their fields, convert them, and push them out. With time we would be able to sort out the flaring of gas and pump domestic gas into homes
We already can compress gas and power trucks and other large machinery. We are employing about 100 people directly and another 1000 indirectly as suppliers, vendors and other such cottage industries tied to the massive project.
As he speaks, he comes ever so close to my face and I can look into his eyes and see the excitement as he narrates this success story
But Edgar, this is not the main thrust of my joy, he enthuses. It’s a fact that Nigerians can achieve a lot if we rise above our limiting factors and work together.
Ok….. I said. Where are you going with this doctor, I asked.
See, this is a project championed by a South Westerner, In a PDP state and heavily backed by an APC Government at the centre
That hit me. I could see his spark. All contending forces have put their differences aside to see to the success of the Energy Park cos of its immense potential for impacting, infrastructure development, creating jobs and earning strong revenue streams amongst others.
The Governor of Edo came personally to inspect the project and promised to give us roads and lay fibre cables as their contribution to Edo State.
The Federal Government through its Local Content Board is an investor and has also imbued the project with strong technical support without which it would have been very difficult to hit the milestones the project has hit.
All concerned Federal agencies from the old DPR have been wonderful on the project allowing for ease of securing relevant authorisation and permits, pushing in technical support and generally supporting in strong ways that have brought the giant project alive
Edgar, I believe in Nigeria. We must begin to learn how to work together as a people to tell beautiful stories. This project is a perfect example of what can be achieved if we as Nigerians agree to work together as a united force.
I could not agree less. As I walked away, I marvelled at his Energy, his Energy Park and the uniting symbolism of pulling contending forces together for the greater goal of the country.
Nice one, I say to him. Nice one bro.
Edgar Joseph
