Interview of Chairman of Delta State Integrated Development Project, DIDP published on Vanguard
Chairman of Delta State Integrated Development Project, DIDP, a
Public-Private Partnership Development programme, in the office of the
Governor of Delta State, Mr. Godwin Gary Bire Akpobire, is one of the
silent thinkers and professionals saddled with the responsibility of
developing and creating investment platforms for entrepreneurs to invest
in the state.
In the past four years, he has been gathering investment data on
energy, housing, agriculture, transport, education and several
industrial developments in the state. He has also developed master plans
for 1,509 communities in the state, Akpobire spoke to Vanguard on the
behind-the-scene plans to transform Delta State.
What is DIDP all about?
DIDP is a Public-Private Partnership Development programme existing
in the Governor’s office with the task of developing and creating
investment platforms in several sectors in Delta State to enable
investor’s come in and invest. In that regard, we started about four
years ago by gathering the basic investment data required by investors
in several sectors ranging from energy, housing, agriculture, transport,
education and several Industrial developments.
*•Mr. Godwin Gary Bire Akpobire
We also started a process of an integrated master planning for each
community of the state. We believe that proper planning of each
community can and will attract investment needed to build viable and
sustainable communities.
We have developed master plans for 1,509 (One thousand, five hundred
and nine) communities in the Delta State. We also recognise that
government budgeting process on its own, with its limited resources and
the challenges of modern times cannot fund all the needs that will get
us to our goal of being a first rate society.
There is therefore need to involve private sector finance and
expertise in several areas if we are to achieve that goal. Creating the
enabling environment for investors is therefore paramount. DIDP,
therefore, focuses on areas and sectors that private sector involvement
and funding is possible and beneficial both for Government, Investors
and communities. We then create platforms that enable all the
stakeholders to engage in those areas.
Over the last four years , we have created good platforms in which
investors from around the world have shown interest and we have been
going around the state working with them on how to kick-start their
operations in many areas.
Master plan
In electricity for example, we created a master plan for electricity
that includes gas production and utilization, generation, transmission
and distribution. We are engaging investors from around the world in
these areas and a vibrant electricity supply market will soon emerge in
Delta State to drive our industrialization process. In Transportation,
we have been working on projects involving the creation of a Deep Sea
port, a State Railway and Road Highway Network.
We have also been working with communities to create industrial space
for investors around the state based on the comparative advantages
that each of these communities have to offer. In these spaces, we are
developing clusters looking at new districts for different products.
We believe that every community in Delta State has the potential to
be economically sustainable if given the opportunity and the platform to
develop its natural resources. I am talking here of non-oil resources.
However a number of issues need to be addressed. These includes proper
mapping of the resources of each community, the advantages and the
disadvantages it presents to any investor seeking to locate in that
community.
What we have been doing in the past four years is collecting and
analyzing the data and information as well as developing the business
case so that investors and communities can develop a profitable
partnership. Planning is an essential part of any successful venture. It
takes time to actualize a properly planned process. If we fail to
plan, then we are planning to fail.
The result of this effort is what is materializing into active
projects this year for several communities. There are still issues to
address, but I think the partnership between willing investors and
communities will only grow as they both seek to advance their interests.
Plan for four power plants
Electricity is the lifeline for any industrialization process. His
Excellency recognized this many years ago and wanted particular focus in
this area. I am sure that you are aware of the efforts of the state in
lighting up the streets and bringing so many communities into the
national grid. His Excellency’s effort in ensuring that gas supplies are
not disrupted and the NIPP programme, which is fully supported by the
state, has contributed to stable power nationwide.
Delta State is naturally blessed as the home of gas to be the capital
of power generation in Nigeria. We currently have one of the most
efficient power stations managed by Agip in Okpai. In 2007, we started
with the Governor’s mandate to look at building a vibrant platform for
investors in Electricity generation, transmission and distribution as
well as looking at alternative energy sources around the state.
As you may be aware, we applied a few years ago for four power plants
licences. The power plants are located in Ovade, Olomoro, Okpai and
Oboghoro. We also applied for a transmission licence so that the four
power plants can evacuate power to our own state grid that will take the
power to the industrial sectors that we are planning for the state.
So, the entire plan is to take it from our power plants within our own
grid to our industrial zones so that we can create jobs.
We also applied for an off-grid distribution licence, which means the
future of Delta State is not dependent on the functional capability of
the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) or its successors but we
want to be able to control our own industrialization process. That is
what we have done.
Currently, those licences are coming to conclusion and work has begun
in the sites, especially the one in Okpai. Work is ready to begin now
in Olomoro, Ovade and Obogboro. It will take about 26 to 32 months for
these power plants to be completed.
We have had very keen commitments and movements from the investors on
these four power plants. The capacity of the power plants is 625
megawatt each which is enough for our initial industrialization plans.
There is capacity to increase this going forward.
It is a very ambitious plan but Delta State industrialization plan
has been an ambitious one from the beginning. We want to host investors
who need to build new steel plants, aluminum smelting plants, glass
industries, fertilizer plants, Feed mills and cold storage facilities.
These are high electricity usage industries. So, by no means the 2,500
megawatts is not a big figure, it is actually a bit less for our
industrial requirement.
Your franchise model on off grid distribution has being raising so
many interests. Can you explain how and why you decided on this model?
In electricity, I always say that the last mile is the only mile.
What I mean is that unless the consumer is receiving constant
electricity, whatever you are doing in generation and transmission will
amount to nothing. So, the distribution element of the process is the
most critical and must be taken care of properly.
When we started studying our electricity needs, we discovered that
the assets in distribution were the least maintained and the most prone
to vandalism. This was partly an institutional culture that does not
give real responsibility to anyone for the proper care of those assets.
In our off grid distribution network, we have created a unique model
that allows local people to take full responsibility for the
functionality of their electricity needs.
We created local electricity networks for every off grid area in
Delta State and will have a local company, individual or cooperative
that you can meet locally to ensure that your electricity needs are met.
In fact we call these Local Electricity Network Operators our “angels
of the last mile”.
It means that in every town in Delta State, somebody will be
responsible for the provision of electricity. That business model will
help us to ensure that there is accountability within the system; there
is technical expertise, joint responsibility for the efficiency of the
network and a feeling of ownership that will reduce vandalism and
theft.
Soon, there will be an announcement regarding the off grid network
and Deltans will have the opportunity to participate in the management
of their own electricity network and in creating wealth for their own
local communities.
We believe that this electricity distribution business model will
help us to reach all off grid areas in Delta State at a speed and
quality of supply which is consistent.
24-hour electricity
There are also plans for a Delta Electricity Conference soon. The
energy conference will enable us to explain to Deltans our model for the
provision of electricity for Delta State. It is my hope that in Delta
State, every community will have electricity for 24 hours and the
fulfillment of that dream is not dependent on the functional
capabilities of PHCN alone.
We have had very keen commitments and movements from the investors on
these four power plants, the transmission lines and the off grid
distribution entities.
How is it possible to knock off PHCN from the system so that Deltans will no longer rely on PHCN again?
We are not knocking off PHCN. We believe that both DELDISCO and the
Benin PHCN can exist in the state. The initiative of the governor is not
to knock-off PHCN or to restrict its activities. In fact, the state
government is interested in the success of PHCN and its privatization
programme.
We want to partner with companies that are interested in the
generation plants and the PHCN in Benin because we believe that their
business plans will not be complete without the involvement of the state
and the host communities.
We are very much keen on the privatization process of PHCN and hopes
that it goes ahead on schedule. We have, however, seen that we cannot
depend solely on that system.
We need to build a more robust system, a more vibrant electricity
supply market for Delta State that guarantees the industries moving to
the state with 24 hours electricity, to guarantee our off grid areas
that they are not going to be left in the dark for too long and that is
why we have developed this off grid electricity master plan which will
be complimentary to PHCN infrastructures in Delta State.
In the future there will be possible areas of co-operation between
the two networks, I can see that we probably will be able to have an
electricity supply market where DELGENCO, the state’s power generating
outfit can supply to the national grid, and DELDISCO, the distribution
arm, can take care of some of PHCN Benin areas where the need arises.
We are now in a world where there is the need to ensure that our
communities compete and for our communities to compete, electricity is
essential and we can no longer wait for a long time to make this happen.
We need to do something and that is what the governor is doing by this
initiative.
When you say the governor is doing something, don’t you think that
time is not on his side since he will be leaving office in 2015?
I think it is a very big mistake when people say a lot of things have
not been put in place. The fact that we have not made a lot of our
work known to the public does not mean nothing has been done.
Personally, I think results are a better judge. It is surprising that a
lot of people criticize the governor using indices based on political
propaganda and personal vendetta.
In most cases, you will find that the harsh critics don’t live in
Delta State; do not know the streets or quarters of the town they hail
from. They live in cyberspace and use alias to attack the governor. This
kind of consistent misinformation is a disservice to the citizens of
the state.
Now let’s talk about the reality of the Uduaghan’s administration. It
is a reality that the governor has built an international standard
airport; a reality that the governor is dualizing roads; a reality the
governor has IPP projects going, and also a reality that the governor
has designed a new electricity transmission system for the state and
attracted the highest value of inward investments in Nigeria with the
Koko Free Trade Zone bringing in over 16 Billion USD financial
commitments.
Just the things that I am talking to you about now; that he is
working on things like deep sea port, agriculture, housing, training.
Add to that his record in the last four years on free maternal health
care, employment of over five thousand new primary school teachers,
Micro credit grants, scholarships, buses for the masses, DESOPADEC
funding and numerous projects in oil producing communities, Four new
Polytechnics, Marine School in Burutu, I can go on and on.
When the opposition criticizes the big projects, they show their lack
of depth, experience and open malice because they should have known
that these kinds of projects do have a gestation period. They are not
projects that you pick up in the shelve, you have to plan them, you have
to design them, you have to manufacture equipments for them, you have
to get the right engineering, there are lot of things that you need to
do to get these projects going and in place.
I talk to the ordinary man in the streets. I work with communities
every day and most communities know that the government is performing.
Unfortunately, misinformation and rumor have become the new propaganda
tool against the state.
There is need for you to visit communities to know what is actually
happening. If you go to community like Umeh, you will not tell the
ordinary man in Umeh that government is not performing. If you go the
community like Ogheye, you will not tell the ordinary man in Ogheye that
government is not performing.
If you go to a community like Okpai, you will not tell the ordinary
man in Okpai that government is not performing. This is what informs the
votes that the governor got during the last elections.
May be, you can argue that we probably need a more proactive media
strategy and explanation of our actions. But, I think the taste of the
pudding is in the eating and not in the publicity.
Can I know more about the transportation model that you are developing for the state?
Let me go back again on this achievement thing. In 2008, Delta State
became the first state to apply for a licence to build a state railway
network. We got the approval to build our own railway. It took us two
years of planning and getting the technical details right. It took us
another year and half to look at the finances and to ensure that the
financing is going to work.
This year we will begin the process of actually getting the
construction going. That process starts with the Hon. Minister of
Transport coming to hand over the licence in a brief ceremony to the
governor. We did not think it was worth it to have a ceremony where the
governor is picking up a licence when the project is not fully planned
or fully funded yet and we have not had the right operators and the
right investors.
These are the things that have happened and we did not make a lot of
noise about them. There are several other projects like that around the
state. We now have the opportunity to build a railway route from Agbor
to Koko because there are other activities worth over 16 billion USD
investment that is coming into Koko that requires materials that need to
be moved to Koko in large scale.
That was a big driver for investors interested in building that
railway line. We also have an up-coming activity in Asaba that also
requires large-scale materials to be moved.
That means that the railway investment is very appetizing to
investors. This is just one example of many projects we have been
working on around the state. Rather than publicize them for publicity
sake, we just work on the reality of what is to happen.
Now, the transportation master plan covers four basic areas. One, the
highway, an intra-state highway that takes you from Asaba and returns
you back to Asaba across the state.
It takes you from Asaba to Patani on the bank of the River Niger; it
takes you from Patani to Burutu to Forcados through Escravos, Ogheye,
Koko, back through Sapele, Agbor and then back to Asaba.
This highway will enable goods to be conveyed across the country in
an easy manner, not just in Delta State. It enables investors that we
are trying to encourage to come into Delta State to have easy logistics
and cheaper cost of bringing in their raw materials and manufacturing
them. Now, that is one strategy.
This highway road project will go beyond the tenure of this
government to build. The timing of DIDP and the structure of DIDP are
institutional. They are not meant for political manipulations and
tenures.
You do not plan a territory like Delta State on the basis of the
tenure of a single governor and that for me is one of the biggest
achievements of the governor. I believe he has taken long-term decisions
not minding the lost of fame in the short term.
Most administrations look at short-term gains so that they can have
short-term fame. Governor Uduaghan has a decision that will benefit the
state in the long term, rather than bask in short-term political
glory. That for me, is one of the blessings that the state can count
for having this governor as the chief executive today.
Projects like the railway line and intra-state highway may take a
longer time and probably may not be completed until the end of the
eight-year tenure of the next administration. Please, note that the
project will be driven by private capital and we expect that will
shorten the time that it will take for the Highway and Railway projects
to be completed.
The second strategy is the construction of a state railway network. I
have explained the fundamentals earlier, the financing and the
imperatives that drive that project.
The third transportation strategy is the creation of a deep-sea port.
As you may be aware, Delta has four ports – Sapele, Warri, Burutu and
Koko. These are inland routes and there is essential need to have one
deep-sea port that can bring in large vessels that are able to ship raw
materials and finished goods in large quantities in and out of Nigeria.
In this regard, we have been working for over four years, looking at
possible sites in our sea front axis of the state for partnership with
international investors and experts. The end is a long-term project but
the implementation of that project will begin in the next one-year and
half. I believe that development will herald a change in the face of
marine transportation in West Africa.
Now, I have talked about the roads, rail and the marine seaports. One
of the most successful projects that government on its own has
implemented in transportation is the Asaba International Airport. Asaba
now has an airport that is comparable to most airports around the
world. It is still under what I call testing phase that is going
according to schedule.
The Airport makes Delta State capital the true gateway for every
business transaction. The benefit of this airport is now trickling in
for the residents of Asaba and environs. It is comparable to any other
airport of its type around the world. It will open up Delta State in no
small way.
The Osubi Airport is also being expanded to an international airport
capable of being the logistics base for the Nigerian Air force
operations in the Niger Delta. These two airports in Delta State are
going to be a catalyst for growth of these major cities and the State.
For DIDP, the transportation system being put in place by this
governor will make any investment in Delta State so easy, cost effective
and a territory for investors. That is why investors are excited about
Delta State any time we talk about our State and every time we show
the facts and figures.
For investors who are looking for facts and figures, Delta State is
where it all comes together, no hypes, no political jingoism, and just
simple economic facts.
You talked earlier about master plans for communities? Can you elaborate?
One of the most exciting things is what we have been doing in our
work with communities is the creation of community master plans. I
believe that any community that fails to plan for its future has planned
for its future generations to fail.
Each community’s master plan covers several issues from land use,
infrastructure, environment, education, economy and several others.
The process enables the communities to look critically at what
resources they have, where, how they can put them to use to become
self-sufficient. For example, one of the DIDP aims is to create an
industrial area in every willing community in Delta State.
This is to help fulfill the governor’s overall objective of creating
sustainable jobs. As you know, it is industries- small, medium and
large-scale industries- that will help create sustainable jobs.
Sustainable jobs creation is the driver of growth for any community.
That is why the governor is working daily to find new avenues to
provide infrastructure that encourage industries into communities.
The way we are trying to encourage industries in these communities is
to create particular areas in every community where industries can be
sited. In some of those communities, we call them districts with focus
on particular products so that there is an amalgamation of similar
industries in one place.
We believe that clusters of particular industries make the cost of
production cheaper because they can use common infrastructural
facilities.
The cluster can have one common raw material supplier that makes the
cost of procurement cheaper. They can also have one common service and
logistics provider which helps in getting raw materials and finished
goods to market easier.
We now have communities across the state that has been working with
DIDP for over three or two years on different products and in the next
one year, those economic districts and zones will start unveiling
themselves.
This is a new vibrant industrial Delta State emerging. You will see a
new vibrant industrial Delta from Patani to Umeh to Enwhe, Ughelli,
Mosogar, Sapele, Uzere, Okpai, Asaba, Agbor, Mosogar, Warri, Ughelli
Burutu, Bomadi, Ewu, and Ukwu-Nzu.
Most of them will tell their own stories of how they have developed.
We have been working with some of them for more than three years to
develop that capacity to engage, that ability to be able to say, okay,
‘We can do this. We can host this industry.
Our children and young men can work in these factories.’ At the end
of the tenure of the Governor Uduaghan, I think the governor will be
most responsible for creating the most jobs and that will be a sweet
target to achieve. If we get through, it will be more than an
achievement.
In terms of community participation, what are you going to give the
communities because you talk about equity share by the communities and
the government?
We have just two things as a starting point of DIDP. We do not
dictate to the communities what the communities must do. What we have
done is to give the communities the tools to create their own future. To
help them understand the potentials that exists within each community.
Of course, not every community has succeeded in this process and so
many are still trying to overcome internal challenges.
We have created a platform for communities to come together and plan
their future; organize themselves properly as a unit for their economic
survival. This process empowers the communities themselves through
committees to negotiate their own position, to become true partners to
the process.
So for most communities hosting these industrial districts you are
going to see committees that are involved which the communities
themselves have put up. These communities in deliberations with
interested investors set up special purpose vehicles to carry out the
development of the industries in their communities.
The communities have equity in each of the special purpose vehicles.
The equity to the investors and other related agreements governs their
relationship. So it is not a situation of government dictating to the
communities on what it wants the communities to do. It is actually the
communities being empowered to do business.
What the government has done is to empower any willing community to
define an industrial area so that investors can come in and their people
can be employed.
And you do not see a situation whereby the projects will tear the community apart?
No. I believe the agreements are going to be very straightforward,
very inclusive and very open. There is not going to be any hidden
agenda. We have learnt a lot thing from these communities in the way
they engaged the oil companies operating in the state.
The key to security of investment is openness, inclusiveness and
participation. I think what we have done in creating these industrial
sites is to ensure that there is openness, inclusiveness and
participation.
The truth is that nobody destroys their own. Each district will be
the industrial pride of the host community and they will strive to make
it work. It will be the work place of the youths of that community, so I
believe that it could be a place they will want to secure. I see it as
a win win for communities, for investors and for the state.
Talk about housing projects in DIDP.
Housing is a very critical need for our citizens in Delta State. The
government has a robust policy and plans to provide social housing
across the state. The Honorable Commissioner for Housing, Chief Paulinus
Akpeki, has been very proactive in trying to drive the social housing
sector.
DIDP involvement is in the creation of commercially structured
housing projects. There are two of those structured commercial housing
projects on DIDP’s plans for the year. One is in Asaba axis called the
DIDP Downtown, and the other one is in Warri axis called the New Oil
City.
The one in Asaba will be providing about ten thousand apartments and
we are having a housing conference to unveil that project very soon
this year.
The goal of DIDP Downtown development is to provide affordable
commercially low cost apartments to anyone who is having serious
challenges concerning home ownership.
The development has very unique mortgage feature. Homes in the
downtown project will be easy to access and easy to own. That project is
going to one of the star projects of the governor and it is something
that can be easily seen next year.
Talking about all these projects, I do not think that Delta State
Government has the money to bankroll them. Are there investors
supporting you?
At the beginning of the planning process of DIDP, we realized that
the state cannot fund any of the projects we are proposing. So, we
focused on projects that can be commercially funded by investors only.
We are totally focused on creating profitable, sustainable projects
that investors can fund 100 per cent. Of course, government on its own
part as a public partner needs to work on creating an enabling
environment and to foot some pre-development costs to enable the
investors come to a final investment decision.
All DIDP projects that are listed for 2012 have serious commitment
from investors. They will require very little or no government funding
at all for them to be implemented. Investors have enough confidence in
the administration of Dr Uduaghan to invest in Delta State and to
signify their intention to be part of the industrialization process of
the state.
If I get you right, is it also true that private investors have committed so much to the four power plants that you have?
We have investors who are fully committed to the DELGENCO IPP power
plants and we have new investors who are coming into the state every
day.
Almost every month, we receive two investors who are interested in
participating in power plants site projects. We have 14 dedicated sites
with stranded gas and ready studies where a power plant investor can
locate his IPP investment.
I think that we are also going to see new power plants projects in
Delta State. A lot of investors are interested in power generation
investment in Delta State because of our gas availability.
Please elaborate on your agriculture projects in the state.
We believe that we need to, as a state, diversify the economy away
from oil. That is a campaign that the governor and DIDP have carried on
for four years. We believe that a Delta that is not based on oil
revenue and federal allocation alone must be built.
One of the key sectors that we think can diversify the state’s
economy is agriculture. In agriculture, DIDP is focusing on four key
products. The first one is Aquaculture with specific emphasis on catfish
production.
The second is poultry production and of course government has done
very well already with the establishment of the Delta Obasanjo Farms
that are gearing up for full production.
The third one is encouraging new oil palm plantation across the state because we think it is a key area.
We have also identified very unique areas like Umeh where we now have
a project to grow banana for the European Union. In Umeh, we want to
be able to grow banana and export them to Europe. So that is our fourth
product.
Apart from agriculture, we are working like I said before with
communities on several product districts. For example, In Patani, we are
looking at breweries, beverages and distilleries. In Arhade, Elu and
Ovrode, we are looking at a zone that manufactures electrical
equipments.
In Okpai, we have the Delta East refinery. We are planning for the
first time in Nigeria, resin manufacturing in Emu with another refinery
project in Emu. This is actually in fulfillment of the promise the
governor made during his campaign to set up a modular refinery and a
petrochemical plant for Ndokwa-West.
We are also having a pharmaceutical district in Mosogar and a
glass-manufacturing district in Ughelli in Delta State. There is a fruit
and food-processing Zone in Ukwu-Nzo, in Aniocha North Local
Government Area, LGA.
In fact there are several projects happening in several communities
and very soon, those communities and their representatives will begin to
speak up on the opportunities and prospects for their economic
development.
When you talk about exporting banana to Europe, how are you going to do it, knowing fully well that it is a perishable product?
The logistics are now possible because of the investment that the
Governor has made. The airport in Asaba becomes the place where we can
take the banana to and the next day delivery to Europe is now possible.
This was impossible before the airport in Asaba was built.
The Asaba International Airport been designated an international
cargo airport and that gives us the opportunity to take perishable goods
from Delta State and export them to European and American markets. |
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