Ibom Power: Revolutionizing industrial growth through power distribution in Akwa Ibom
Unexpectedly and as characteristic of the style, nature, and direction of his administration’s Eight Point Agenda which, among other cardinal policy thrusts, are anchored on the cores of business initiatives and industrialisation, Governor Udom Emmanuel has struck a responsive chord at the back of infrastructural and industrial development in Akwa Ibom State by securing approval licence to independently distribute electricity within the State, a feat that will eventually trigger and unleash an industrial revolution that will surely be impossible to halt, reverse or stall.
This particular milestone is a masterstroke in the Governor’s revolutionary effort to industrialize the State. Considering the importance and significance attached to this development, it can be said that it is weighted with social and economic relevance. Hence, it is not value-free. From its utility and utilisation perspectives, there are dots, conspicuous, and indelible traces of a win-win epistemic and systemic value for the State.
This is one of those landmark projects of the administration that no one ever envisaged will come to fruition. Albeit, in a timely fashion and in a moment the business eco-systems within the State needed it the most. The Udom Emmanuel administration has yet again demonstrated her strong resolve to stimulating business consciousness in the State by entrenching a conducive infrastructural environment for businesses to thrive. Bringing electricity to light up and power the conducive business environment created by the administration is a deliberate step taken in attempting to balance the unsolved equation shrouding the indices of ease of doing business in sub-Saharan Africa.
This achievement has shot up Governor Udom Emmanuel’s social capital and political reputation for good governance far above his contemporaries. His performance index sits comfortably in a coterie of exceedingly performing public administrators in the 21st Century Nigeria. Astonishingly, this exceptional accomplishment was delivered with no noise, that is, effortlessly. This betrays the Governor as someone who works harder and smarter in the background and talks less when efforts yield the expected results.
This must have been the reason the administration did not run head over hills to score cheap propagandistic points when the administration was in the receipt of an independent power generation and distribution licence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) even when there was genuine reason to go overboard in media hype. Methinks the administration is of the opinion that the reward for good work in this regard implies more work. A common observation has it that the politicisation and mediatisation of this feat were downplayed by the administration. As the such character is rare among political office holders in this part of the world, it shows class and iconoclastic leadership in service delivery.
The news of the administration’s feat in securing a power distribution licence was broken by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). At exactly 4:36 PM on Friday, January 20, 2023, Nigerians and the global community were stunned when NERC, through its Twitter handle, @NERCNG, announced what would forever change the power distribution equation in Akwa Ibom State. The news from the Commission reads:
“The Commission has approved the application from Ibom Utility Company to operate an independent electricity distribution network licence which will enable Ibom Utility Company to distribute electricity in selected locations in Akwa Ibom State.”
“The Commission similarly approved the application for an amendment of the on-grid electricity generating licence to enable Ibom Power Company Limited to embed into the distribution network of Ibom Utility Company Limited.”
This amendment, NERC stated, is to enable the 191 megawatts (MW) Ibom Power Plant to embed part of its electricity generation into the distribution network of Ibom Utility Company Limited. This license, which gives the State the legal framework that allows for both power generation and distribution, is sure to set the stage for a steady power supply in the State with its multiplier effect on business growth, industrialisation, and collective prosperity within the State no less profound.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), it must be noted, is empowered by the Electric Power Sector Reform (EPSR) Act, 2005 to ensure an efficiently managed electricity supply industry that meets the yearnings of Nigerians for stable, adequate, and safe electricity supply. NERC’s responsibility is to regulate standards of performance for all electricity licensees and monitor performance to ensure that those standards are met and maintained or even exceeded.
This recorded feat of being granted the approval for independent electric power generation and distribution has laid to rest one of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s greatest impediments to his industrialisation drive, philosophy, and quest which is paucity or epileptic power distribution. To generate and distribute power to stimulate businesses in the State has been the Governor’s burden since its inception of office.
The Governor, in a recent interview on Channels TV to mark the State’s 35th anniversary, expressed his deep concerns for uninterrupted power supply to drive businesses in the State by lamenting thus: “I don’t control fiscal and economic policies… Allow me to distribute the power I have generated and that will trigger an economic boom that will make Akwa Ibom State the envy of Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.”
Four months later, his dream, vision, expectation, and yearning for an independent and robust electric power distribution became a reality. His lamentations in this regard have finally found succour in the approval for the State to explore and exploit the affordances of electricity for economic gains.
This accomplishment is a testament to the fact that with vision, creativity, ingenuity, and foresighted acumen, States can deploy diplomacy to achieve a somewhat restructuring in the sphere of economy devoid of agitation and bloody confrontation. With the NERC’s licence of approval in the hands of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration, there is bound to be an unleashing of multiple economic chain reactions that will serve as springboards and launch pads for business growth and prosperity.
Historical Conception of Ibom Power and Akwa Ibom Early Milestones Strives for an Independent Power Generation, Regulation, and Distribution
Historically, Ibom Power was incorporated by the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation (AKICORP) in 2001 under the Companies and Allied Matters Act 1990 (CAMA) of Nigeria. Going by the year of its incorporation, it prides itself as one of the first independent power companies in Nigeria. Seven years later, Ibom Power was licensed by the Nigerian Electrical Regulatory Commission (NERC) in May 2008 to generate electricity.
The powerhouse has installations of three assorted frames (two frames 6B and one frame 9E) of the Gas Turbine Generator (GTG) that collectively produce 191MW. Its proposed phase II is estimated to produce 500MW. The license was amended to 685MW in order to integrate the 191MW earmarked for Phase I and the 500MW earmarked for Phase II on October 27, 2015.
NERC renewed Ibom power’s 685MW license on August 22, 2019. Commercial operations of Phase I of the Ibom Power Plant started on December 14, 2009, after the former president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan officially switched on Phase I of the Ibom Power Plant in July 2010. On June 2014, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) granted Ibom Power Company provisional approval for power evacuation through the Ikot Abasi – Eket 132kV double circuit transmission line.
Ibom Power Company Limited signed an Interim Power Purchase Agreement with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc. (NBET) on May 7, 2015, and is currently negotiating a Power Purchase Agreement with NBET. The power company is a registered and active participant in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).
The brief historical antecedence of the power company is revisited in order to place it on a threshold of the historical pedestal upon which its foundation can better be appreciated. Foundation matters. There is no civilisation without a foundation. The foundations laid by forebears always become the stepping stone to advancement in governance.
Hence, if the foundation is destroyed, the Holy Bible contextually asks, what can a government do? The popular opinion is that it can do little or nothing. In the case of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s administration, given the foresight of the man at the helm of state affairs, there is hope as the administration would have pointed to new directions and set new standards.
In the electricity sector within the State, the administration is blessed with a good antecedence in an effort made by the past administrations in this regard. Being a government that is notorious for completing quality and life-touching projects implemented by past administrations regardless of political differences, leanings, ideologies, or sentiments, it has again laid its Midas touch on the power sector to revamp and get it working for good and comfort of the common man.
Ibom Power: Attah’s Vision and Conceptual Framework
The acquisition of an operational licence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) by Udom Emmanuel’s administration to run an independent electricity power bloc is a milestone whose conception note was initiated by the Arch. Victor Attah’s administration. The former governor, in one of the interviews granted to Michael Dada, the Media and Public Relations Officer of Ibom Power, has this to say about the conception of the Ibom Power plant:
“We wanted an airport with an MRO facility. We wanted a science park because we knew that information technology (IT) was so going to rule the world. Because we knew high networked/net worth people will come, we wanted a hotel of quality and we wanted a university of science and technology. We decided that to try to run anyone not to mention all of these things on the generator is silly. So we decided we will have a power supply source that is dedicated to Akwa Ibom.”
According to the former Governor, the need to have an independent and robust power supply within the State was a child of necessity and circumstance. He disclosed in the interview that his administration’s poise and concrete effort in attaining such a feat which was considered unattainable at the time came from his resolve to form what he called APEL (Akwa Ibom Petroleum and Energy Company Limited).
In his words: “APEL has four subsidiaries namely: APEL Power (to generate power); APEL Exploration (to go into marginal oil field); APEL Refino (to refine oil); and APEL Marketing (to market the products that come out of our refinery). APEL Refino got a licence to do a hundred thousand barrels per day field refinery. APEL Power obtain permission to build a power plant dedicated to Akwa Ibom and the agreement then was that this power will be dedicated to Akwa Ibom and only what Akwa Ibom does not use will then be put on to the national grid. This was agreed upon. So, you can see that we succeeded in APEL Exploration and managed to get the marginal oil field… Some Chinese companies came and said they can take up the building and running of the refinery and that they will bring 90% of the money. They agreed with us that it would be difficult to attempt to run the refinery successfully on a generator. So, the first thing they decided was a power plant…”
Narrating his ordeals in getting the Federal Government support and attention in materializing his conceptual framework for Ibom Power Plant, Obong Victor Attach disclosed thus:
“I went to the government of the federation, (then, late Chief Bola Ige was the Minister for Finance) and said please, there are four turbines sitting at ALSCON doing nothing (because by this time, ALSCON has been shut down), release two turbines to me and let me give Akwa Ibom power immediately. I showed him (Late Chief Bola Ige) a document showing that we have ordered two new turbines and when the two turbines come, I will release your turbine back to you because I just want to have a head start on the project so as to look like we are making progress. It seems as if we were making progress on the arrangement and soon there was a hostility bothering on why we should have power, why we should have a seaport, airport and whether the state wanted to secede.”
The hostility meted out on the Ibom Power Plant project at inception would have discouraged the former Governor, but he was undeterred. His courage and foresight took him from pillars to posts. His frantic effort took him to the office of the then Minister for Power, Liyel Imoke, whom the ex-governor urged:
“…you have to assist me, I cannot see why the twentieth century not to mention the twenty-first should be run on a generator. So, help me with the power plant and I will produce 60megawatt (because at that time Akwa Ibom was consuming 40megawatt). He said no if you must do a power plant, you must do a substantial power plant. You are consuming 40 megawatts because that is what is available to you and if the power plant generates over 70 megawatts Akwa Ibom will still consume it. So, that is how we decided to do a larger power plant.”
On the structure and physical layout of the Ibom Power Plant from its inception, conceptual framework, and technical installations, the ex-Governor has this to say:
“With the help of the Chinese company, LYK, 2 frames 6B turbines were on order. Through Liyel Imoke as well, I came to know that a frame 9E turbine will give you more power than 2 frame 6Bs because the design of the power plant was for 4 frames 6B turbines from General Electric.
Two were already on order and we were to order the next two to make them four he said no, instead order a frame 9E because a frame 9E will give you more power than 2 frame 6B and cost you a bit less. That is why if you go to that power plant today, you will see 2 frames 6B and one frame 9E turbine.
That is how it came and adding them together, the total came to 191 megawatt. That is the history of the power plant. We wanted to be sure that Akwa Ibom can be the first in this country to offer 24-hour constant power. This is the magnet and the big attraction for people to come knowing that there is power… All we needed was constant power.”
Currently, based on the agreement with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) for connection, evacuation, and wheeling of the power to the national grid, the plant output is evacuated to the national grid through a 49km 132kV transmission line from Ikot Abasi to Eket, 132/33kV substation. The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc. (NBET) is the off-taker of the electricity produced by the Ibom power plant. Ibom power plant currently provides about 10% of the electricity supply to the South-South/South Eastern axis of the national grid, with the potential to provide more at peak operation.
Gov. Emmanuel’s Acquisition of NERC Licence: Background Report of Intentional Effort to Provide Electricity Power to Drive the State Economy
The administration of Gov. Udom Emmanuel has been keen, deliberate, and intentional when it comes to making sure there is a steady and quality electric power supply to pulsate the economic nerves of the State. This is the reason the administration launched out in the twilight of occupying the Hilltop Mansion to ameliorate the deplorable state of electricity power supply which dwindled business operations.
Hence, the application to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to obtain licence for on-grid electricity generation was borne out of the Governor’s resolve to checkmate the challenge of poor electricity distribution in the State despite investment by his administration in the power sector.
The poise to fix electricity was heralded by the Governor’s inauguration of a newly built 33/11KV, 2 X 15MVA injection sub-station in the State’s capital – Uyo. This effort was followed by the building of another 33/11KV, 2 X 15MVA substation to provide a dedicated grid power supply to the state-owned Victor Attah International Airport with a dedicated 33kv line from Ibom Tropicana.
In addition, when the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), energized 132/33KV electricity transformers in Calabar and Lagos, Governor Udom Emmanuel collaborated with TCN to commission a 132/33KV, 1 x 60MVA transformer at Afaha Ube in Uyo. The 60MVA transformer increased the state’s available power for distribution from 96 megawatts to 144 megawatts. The upgraded substation provides steady power to ten local government areas in the state including Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Obot Akara, Ini, Ikono, Ibiono, Etinan, Abak and Ukanafun.
Udom Emmanuel’s administration entered into an agreement with TCN to build a 132/33KV, 2 x 60MVA transmission substation at Ekim in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. This initiative was commissioned by the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo during the 32nd anniversary of the State.
The Ekim sub-station, which receives power from the state-owned Ibom Power Plant, has 33kv dedicated lines to the Onna industrial hub, the location of Jubilee Syringe Factory, King Flour Mills, Metering Solutions Manufacturing Services and the plywood industry, Akwa Ibom State University and five local government areas including Onna, Mkpat Enin, Ikot Abasi, Eastern Obolo, and Oruk Anam. As Ikot Abasi sub-station is in the offing, the administration has secured a 30MVA transformer to boost the electricity power supply in the area once the project is completed.
It must be noted that with these capital investments in electricity power supply notwithstanding, some areas in the State were still in blackout as they suffer none, trickle or epileptic power supply. The State government is not to blame as the issues of the electricity power outage were consequence of the privatisation of power distribution assets and the Federal Government’s total control of power transmission. In such a situation, the State governments had limits to what they can do to influence the power supply to better the economic springs in the state.
The implosive quest to change the negative narratives of power distribution made Udom Emmanuel’s administration seek approval to independently generate, manage or distribute its power to soothe the business nerves that were frayed with recourse to systemic failure in power distribution within the State. Now that the electricity distribution licence from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is in the hands of the administration, one should hope for the best.
Of What Economic Utility is Electricity?
Electricity drives the economy. All sectors of a nation’s economy wholly depend on electricity to thrive. This is where it is attributed to possessing transformational potential. It is the air that national economies, the world over, breathe. It is also the livewire and live blood that lubricate and stimulate the nerve of any civilization. Without it, civilisation is driven aback and man, once thought to be civilized, may be taking bold steps back to the caves where technologies such as television and light bulbs, which once leverage on electricity, may be twitched to function with candlelight.
Take electricity out of any national equation and industrialisation pulse of any civilisation falls like packs of cards. It is the cardinal thrust and the essential pillar upon which human functions rest. By bending Paul Watzlawicks’ aphorism that ‘man can not communicate’ to suit the context of this discourse, suffice it to say that man can not do without electricity. Electricity is life! A life that has no touch or extension of electricity is not worth living for such is a barbaric life.
Economic Relevance of Electricity Power Distribution: Implications of Udom Emmanuel’s NERC Licence Acquisition to Akwa Ibom State Business Landscape
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (NERC) licence acquisition by Udom Emmanuel’s administration to generate and distribute electrical power does not come without substantial economic implications and relevance for the State.
The acquisition of the licence has implicated the State government for being sensitive to the economic well-being of the State by putting up infrastructural mechanisms on the ground to stimulate business activities. Through this effort, the administration has shown concerted, deliberate, and intentional effort to address the malady occasioned by the poor state of the electrical power supply which has been instrumental in instigating business apathy in the State.
Hence, to stir up the business ecology, eco-system, and sector, the administration has put its foot forward in addressing systemic power fluctuations and epileptic power supply by taking the centre stage in controlling, regulating, and distributing steady electrical power to the business communities within the State. This gesture has shown that the administration is serious about its blueprint for unleashing an economic revolution within the State.
The acquisition of the NERC licence to generate, regulate, and distribute power within the State is a clear lesson to the world that a serious government that wants to grow the economy must start by fixing electricity. With this development comes the provision of a steady power supply to drive diverse business operations dotting the State’s landscape. The provision of steady electricity, in quantity and in quality, will encourage angel investments as well as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to sprout and thrive.
By solving one of the systemic hindrances to business operations in Nigeria which is poor and epileptic power supply, Udom Emmanuel’s administration is positioned to change the business narratives in Akwa Ibom by ushering in the atmosphere and climate in which businesses can be done with ease. Doing business with ease comes with having access to a steady power supply with relative cost.
Hence, with a steady power supply set to roll into the ‘business squares’ in every nook and cranny of the State, the cost of business operations will drastically reduce and more businesses will emerge. The cost of doing business will reduce as the SMEs will no longer have to power their generating sets 24/7 which usually gulp down the entrepreneurs’ business dividends, and sometimes, the business capital in fueling and maintenance costs. Having a steady electricity power supply will help them cut down on the overhead cost and expenses they would have to incur in running businesses thereby positioning their businesses at the vantage point of maximizing profit.
With the changing power supply narrative, there are projections and trajectories that access to electrical power supply 24/7 will be unparalleled. Access to electricity in the State will not be a luxury but a basic need. Given its relevance and the way Udom Emmanuel’s administration prioritizes it, it will not be out of place to say that it would constitute part of human rights to social existence which the State shall strive to uphold, safeguard or protect.
On a lighter note, its denial may attract enforceable sanctions. The justification is simple: the Governor understands that electricity is a catalytic phenomenon and must be explored and exploited for economic and business gains.
As an economic and business force, a steady electricity power supply will disrupt and catalyze the economic blueprints of the State set in place by Udom Emmanuel’s administration. It will revolutionize the economic power of the State as it did to nations of the world since its discoveries in the 19th Century.
Electricity will resonate with the State’s economic power. As the administration prioritizes electricity, it has seemingly prioritized economic power. As the administration makes concrete efforts to provide the business communities with electricity, the administration has also empowered them economically by providing the right environment to thrive.
It is in such consideration that the Udom Emmanuel’s administration has given business communities the raw economic power to thrive in the spheres and realms of entrepreneurship; trade; commerce; hospitality; manufacturing; food processing and storage; food production and preservation; retailing and end-users down line; fashion and design; cosmetology; wigging and hairstyling; carpentry and artisanry; fishery; welding and fabrications; livestock feed processing; publishing; poultry; health care delivery; computer software and hardware engineering; hair barbing businesses; gaming centres; restaurant and relaxation centres; fabric production; polyester production; and other auxiliary Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs).
In no distant future, there is bound to be the emergence of business ventures sprouting and flourishing from every part of the State. There is also bound to be a massive influx of business ventures from other States into Akwa Ibom State because of the conducive business environment that a steady electricity power supply shall unleash.
This development will see to massive employment of youths and sundry into gainful entrepreneurial and startup business engagements thereby reducing unemployment issues to the least minimum. With the unleashing economic potential of electric power supply, the new narrative of Akwa Ibom State being a destination point for businesses will be sustained.
It is in the perspective of considering the weight of NERC’s license acquisition and perceived economic relevance to Akwa Ibom State that it considered that those who must have discovered electricity in the 19th century do not ring a bell to the business communities in the State but it is Governor Udom Emmanuel’s intentional inventiveness in facilitating its steady availability in driving business operations in Akwa Ibom State that makes all the difference. Kudos to the Governor and his innovative team!
