Adedeji Adeleke, father of award-winning superstar David, popularly known as Davido, has revealed the hardships he went through to secure environmental permits for a power plant worth more than $2 billion.
The billionaire businessman disclosed this while speaking as a member of the West Central Africa Chapter at the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Annual Council in Maryland, United States, on Tuesday.
Sharing his experience as a Baptist, Adeleke recounted how he encountered obstacles with “difficult government officials” and was told by one official that the project would never “see the light of day.” He said he was hurt.
He said he knelt and prayed to God because he did not want to accept government officials’ statements as the final say on Pacific Energy, which had worked closely with a Chinese engineering firm to build and design the power project.
“I am a Nigerian businessman. I am in the electricity business. I own a power plant that generates about 15 percent of Nigeria’s electricity needs. I work with a Chinese engineering company. I am building Nigeria’s largest power plant, scheduled to be completed in January 2025. It will be a 1,250 megawatt power plant.
“During the design and permitting process, we encountered difficult government officials. Our permits were denied for environmental reasons, and certain government officials I met with were unable to accept my project. He told me to his face that it would never see the light of day. But as he said this, I said to myself, “This man is talking like he is God.” It was. I said in my heart that God should listen to him. He is not God, so everything he says is invalid. ”
“So I left disappointed and told my Chinese friends that unfortunately there were difficulties and the project would stall. Meanwhile, the value of this project is about $2 billion. In the process, a lot of money had already been spent on design and preparation, before permits were required and construction began. So, my Chinese friend got involved with Afrexim Bank of China. “I told him not to worry,” he said.
Adeleke further stressed that his Chinese friend had to travel to Nigeria to discuss a solution as he did not believe that prayers were enough to complete the project, adding that the then Minister of Power He pointed out that he approved it because he saw the project succeed. The project was great.
Recall that Mr Adeleke had earlier spoken about the power project when he delivered a lecture at the 9th Graduation Ceremony of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State in July 2023.
