IMO Agency to Honour Prof. Nnaji for Successful Delivery of Aba IPP at Ahiajioku
The Ahiajioku Research Centre, a parastatal of the Imo State Government established to research and promote Igbo civilization, will honour the founder and chairman of the Geometric Power Group, Professor Bart Nnaji, for successfully delivering the over $800 million Aba Independent Power Project (IPP) in Abia State.
The recognition will take place on November 27 in Owerri during a special ceremony marking the 45th anniversary of the Ahiajioku Lecture Series, which began during the administration of former Imo State Governor Sam Mbakwe in the Second Republic (1979–1983).
These details were disclosed on Wednesday afternoon by Nze Ray Emeana, Director General of the Ahiajioku Research Centre, who led an eight-member delegation on a courtesy visit to Professor Nnaji at the Geometric Power headquarters in the Osisioma Industrial Layout, Aba.
“We are giving you this special recognition not only for advocating the speedy economic development of the entire Igboland in your 2009 Ahiajioku Lecture at the Grasshoppers Stadium, Owerri, and in the 2016 Odenigbo Lecture of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri—which you delivered in the Igbo language for two hours—but also for practising what you preached by successfully delivering the Aba Power Project, now providing constant and safe electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas in Abia State,”said Emeana.
Both the Ahiajioku Lecture Series and the annual Odenigbo Lecture of the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese are traditionally delivered by outstanding scholars of Igbo origin.
Professor Nnaji, a globally recognized engineering researcher, left the United States in 2004 to return to Nigeria and lead the Aba IPP, which comprises Geometric Power Ltd (188 MW) and Aba Power Electric Company Ltd, making it Nigeria’s only fully integrated electricity company.
“We believe that by honouring you, we are helping to create a new value system in Igboland and encouraging other worthy sons and daughters of our nation to follow your example,”
“The Igbo world is in a hurry to leapfrog in developmental terms, just as Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, and Taiwan have done.”he said.
The Aba IPP is regarded as the largest single private investment in the Southeast geopolitical zone. Its reliable power supply has already attracted major projects, including the Enyimba Economic City, a multi-billion-dollar initiative promoted by entrepreneur Darl Uzu, himself a former academic—mirroring the industrial city models of Shanghai and other Asian economic hubs.
Professor Nnaji expressed gratitude to the Imo State Government for reviving the annual Ahiajioku Lecture after a five-year hiatus.
This year’s lecture, scheduled for November 27 and 28, will be delivered by Bishop Godfrey Onah, Catholic Bishop of Nsukka and former Deputy Rector of the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, where he also served as a professor of philosophy.
“Please inform Governor Uzodimma,”Nnaji told the delegation,“that we are delighted the lecture has been revived—and even more so that Ahiajioku has now evolved into a major government agency dedicated to researching and advancing Igbo civilization.” he stated.
He pledged to continue contributing to Nigeria’s rapid national development, emphasizing that all six geopolitical zones should become centres of growth rather than arenas of divisive politics.
Nnaji also revealed that the steel tubular poles used in the Aba Ring-Fenced Area are unique in Nigeria, designed to ensure uninterrupted power supply even during natural disasters such as earthquakes—underscoring Aba’s strategic importance to the nation’s economy.
In a vote of thanks, Professor Goddy Onuoha, a member of the Ahiajioku Research Centre, commended Nnaji for his distinguished record as a former Minister of Power and Minister of Science and Technology.
“As a minister, you never took ‘no’ for an answer. The work you did, even during your brief tenure in 1993, continues to speak for itself,”Onuoha said.
