By Alltimepost.com
Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that Azura Power Plant in Benin City has the capacity to produce almost 50 percent of what Nigeria currently boasts of when it generates at its peak, 4,000 megawatts, maintaining that Edo is now a hub of power generation in Nigeria.
In a speech during an inspection visit to Azura Power Plant located in Ahor in Benin City on Tuesday, Governor Oshiomhole expressed appreciation to the management of the company for their vision, courage and determination to navigate through all the logistics, technical, political, social and economic hurdles to reach the current level.
He said it required a level of confidence in Nigeria, in the people, and confidence about the future to step out and initiate a gigantic project such as this, noting: “and even while you are at the state of construction, all of us here, we workers, we are already beneficiaries of that vision.”
According him, it is incontestable that Edo possesses suitable land and nature, good people that are friendly to investors, adding: “our people are educated enough to know that this project, the Azura Power Project, has become an indigene of this community and Edo State, and like every indigene, it attracts all the support that it needs, whereas in some parts of the country, you have people who want to make quick money by blackmailing contractors.”
Oshiomhole expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the site, remarking that the company’s choice of Julius Berger to handle the civil engineering work, gave absolute confidence.
He assured the company of the state’s continued support, adding that the primary purpose of government was to create the necessary enabling environment that gives the real private sector investors the confidence they need to locate in this State, thereby encouraging foreign direct investment to bring foreign exchange into the country.
“I, therefore, have a stake, and this project being about power, it goes into the heart of the Nigeria’s problem. I have chatted with a couple of investors. Over the weekend, I had a conversation with Chinese investors who want to set up various manufacturing plants across the State.
“They have only one concern: power. And they tell me, for example, they want to locate more steel plants, but steel plants by their nature consume a lot of power.
“They want to set up more ceramic factories; they require a lot of power. They want to start processing granite and marbles, taking advantage of our solid minerals; again it requires a lot of power which cannot be produced by generators.”
The Managing Director, Azura Power Plant, Dr. David Oladipo, in his speech, said the Project has presently employed 400 staff, out of which 150 are from the host community.
“We have local contractors who meet the highest standard set by Julius Berger. They bring in materials and they have to be upgraded and tested.
“One of the commitments we have is to ensure we have real impact from the local community in terms of employment and in terms of business opportunities. So, we are very pleased about that, and we are very appreciative of the local community. They have been fantastic so far,” he remarked.
He said the company’s phase one and two would generate almost 1,500 MW, adding that there will be nowhere in the country in a site like this with so much power on it.
“Edo State will be the number one site in terms of generation of power in the country. And phase three will be right into a combined circle. All of this will happen and must happen sir,” he hinted.
James Asemota liked this on Facebook.
Thaddeus M. Edah liked this on Facebook.