Let us talk about the man, Prof Bart Nnaji at 70. How does it feel like to be 70?
I did not think that I would live past 60. When I went to America as a teenager, I told a friend that I expected to die at about 60 because I thought that 60 was too old. I could not imagine people being 60 and still wanting to be around. So, when I turned 60, I laughed at myself and said “look at you, you have not started.” So, I went past 60 and here I am at 70. Now, I no longer look at life that way. I have a company that is just getting to work the way it is supposed to work. So, 70 is just a number or something like that.
I look at our country and it was just like what the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was saying the other day that the country needs electricity more than we have created to work in the country. And so, as long as my brain is still working and I am still able to move around, for which God has been very kind, I must continue to work on that project with those who are associated with it. But gas is the main problem. If we have gas, we have reliable electricity. No gas, no reliable electricity! It’s just a simple arithmetic. Not even arithmetic but simple intuitive fact.
Is this assertion about gas peculiar to your Aba Power Plant?
Every power plant in the world works that way.
But we have abundance of gas in the country? So, why has the government not used the resources we have to energise the power sector?
The government has not done what it is supposed to do to ensure that gas is really available in Nigeria. You might have heard that Nigeria is more of a gas country than an oil country. It is a fact. A lot of gas we have now come from associated gas. But we have non-associated gas fields as well and we have plenty of that in the Anambra Basin; in Ugwuoba (in Enugu State). But the non-associated gas is not being harvested. So, there are two things that we need to have that government should provide. One is investment to mine the gas. The second is investment to transport the gas. Because there is no transportation infrastructure which actually should be provided by the government, we have limit on where the gas is mined. So, those who are able to invest in gas transportation infrastructure, to take gas to where it is processed, are the ones that have what is working. Otherwise, it is just not there and it is a very terrible situation in the country. What I am saying is that government should provide gas transportation infrastructure. And it has not done enough or nearly enough to transport the gas.
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Are talking about gas pipelines?
Yes!
What about the country’s gas master plan? Does it cover the South-East?
Not adequately. Because in the gas master plan there is supposed to be a major trunk line that runs from South-South through the South-East to the North. Then there is one that should go to the West passing through the Niger Delta. There is a line actually to the West. There is another line that goes from Delta to Edo to the North pass to Ajeokuta. There is a convergence going to the North. They are not all completed. That is an issue. So, we have a challenge with gas transportation system. For me, having gas in Aba requires both capacities to get the gas and transportation for it. We have got a 27-kilometre gas pipeline from a major gas processing station in Owazza, which is around the Imo River to our power plant in Osisioma. We own that pipeline. We are the first in Nigeria as a power company to build such a gas pipeline. So, gas is a big issue in Nigeria.
With the removal of electricity from the exclusive legislative list, are you working with state governments in the South-East to see if they will get involved in building the pipelines and to exploit the gas resources in the region?
Yes, there is an Act by the National Assembly to have the entire electricity value chain in the concurrent legislative list. But it does not solve anything because what is required to build a power infrastructure is enormous. What we built in Aba is more than $800 million for nine local governments out of 17 local governments in Abia State. Yes, we built it to also provide electricity, if need be, and it is possible, for the entire Abia State and perhaps even more. But the problem is that when you look at other states, including Abia State, that investment is not made by the government. It is by the private sector. Government supported it by enabling payments, being a partner in progress. And that partnership in progress has continued from government to government. But when you look at the quantum of funds required to build a power plant you will see that there are only two state governments that have built power plants in Nigeria. These are Rivers State and Akwa Ibom State because they have so much money. But people should know that government is not a good runner of business. And it showed because even though Rivers State built power plants it could not run them and had to sell them. Akwa Ibom built power plant many years ago but it still was not able to run it. You see, it is not just building power plants with Turbines. There are so many things around the plant that must be available and working. For example, the evacuation infrastructure should be there and correct and should be the type. All the balance of plant should be there, and be proper and working. Then a good evacuation infrastructure because power is an instantaneous product that cannot be stored.
So, when you produce power, it has to get used immediately. The state governments do not have the resources to begin to build power plants. So, they have to partner with the private sector. If you think about it, a private company that has a proper plan and the integrity to do it can borrow money from international banks. But a state government may not be able to do that kind of borrowing because it will require an intermediary which is normally a private company to work with, to do it. The state governments in Nigeria do not have the ability to provide sub-sovereign support which is a certain level of credit to get any bank out there or investors to provide the sort of required guarantee. But it is possible that states joined together might be able to do it. But will they want to work together? Are they working together? That is the problem!
Can’t they work together through the South East Development Commission (SEDC) to execute this kind of projects?
They can. But let them do it and let us see.
Currently you are serving nine out of 17 local governments in Abia State and you are situated in the South-East. Isn’t there a way that the state governments, the SEDC can forge a partnership that will allow Geometric Power to service even the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC)?
There was a speech which Governor Alex Otti of Abia State gave to the SEDC recently that centred on exactly what you are saying. Otti was telling his fellow governors to stop wanting to build their own power plants and come to partner with the Geometric Power to provide the power. The fact of the matter is that we have power plant and we can provide power to more than just Abia State. And we have the capacity to expand power that can serve the entire South-east.
How is the appropriate gas pricing affecting your operation?
There is a domestic gas price set by the government which is helping even though it is in Dollars. It is helping and Geometric Power is one of the GENCOs that is allowed to buy gas at the domestic gas price. It helps. But you have to have that gas first.
You went into studying Artificial Intelligence about 41 years ago. What gave you the insight to make that move?