The father of award-winning artist David, better known by his stage name Davido, Adedeji Adeleke, has disclosed the process he underwent to obtain an environmental permit for his more than $2 billion power plant.
Speaking at the Seventh Day Adventist General Conference Annual Council on Tuesday in Maryland, USA, the millionaire businessman said this while representing the West-Central Africa Division as a Layperson.
As he talked about his experiences as a Baptist, Adeleke described encountering “difficult government officials” and how one official told him that the project would never “see the light of day.”
He claimed that because he did not want to accept the government official’s declaration as the last word for his company, Pacific Energy, which was closely collaborating with Chinese engineering firms for the design and construction of the power projects, he got down on his knees and prayed to God.
“I am a Nigerian businessman. I work in the electrical industry. I possess a power plant that provides around 15% of Nigeria’s electrical needs. Chinese engineering firms are employed by me. I’m constructing Nigeria’s largest power plant, which should be finished in January 2025. The facility has a capacity of 1,250 megawatts.
We encountered challenging government representatives while designing and obtaining the permit. Our permit was rejected for environmental reasons, and the government representatives I met with directly informed me that my idea would never be implemented. However, as he was saying that, I thought to myself, “This guy is speaking like he is God.” Since he is not God, everything he says is meaningless, thus I was thinking that God ought to hear him.
Disappointed, I left and informed my Chinese friends that this project would stall due to difficulties. The project is currently valued at roughly $2 billion. In the process, the design and preliminary work had already cost a lot of money. Prior to the point at which we would require a permit, construction would begin. Because the Afrexim Bank of China was involved, my Chinese acquaintance was concerned that he might go bankrupt. He said, “I told him not to worry.”
Adeleke further emphasized that his Chinese friend needed to go to Nigeria to talk about a solution because he never thought prayer would be sufficient to complete the project. He pointed out that it did, as the project was approved by the then-Minister of Power, who recognized its greatness.
Remember how Adeleke had previously discussed this power project in a lecture note during Adeleke University’s 9th graduation ceremony in Ede, Osun State, in July 2023?
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