Davido’s Father Set to Launch Nigeria’s Largest Power Plant in January
Adedeji Adeleke, the father of Afrobeats megastar, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido, has disclosed that he has built the biggest power plant in Nigeria.
The billionaire industrialist made this known while speaking as a Layperson from the West-Central Africa Division during the Seventh Day Adventist General Conference Annual Council held in Maryland, United States of America on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Adeleke, who shared his experience as a Baptist member, stated that the $2 billion project is a 1,250MW power plant, adding that it will be the biggest thermal power plant in the country.
According to him, the power plant will become operational from January 2025.
Davido’s father says govt officials predicted doom for the power plant
Recounting his experience during the process of securing environmental permits for the project, the business mogul recalled how he ran into bottlenecks with difficult government officials.
He said a particular official told him that the project would never ‘see the light of day’.
Adeleke, who didn’t want the government official’s statement to be the final say for his energy company, went down on his knees and prayed to God.
The father of the multi-award-winning Afrobeats artiste also said that his other power plants currently account for 15% of the electricity generation in Nigeria.
He further disclosed his company, Pacific Energy enlisted the services of Chinese engineering companies for the construction and design of his power projects.
“I am a businessman in Nigeria. I’m into the electricity business. I own a power plant, I generate about 15 per cent of the electricity needs for Nigeria. I have Chinese engineering companies that work for me. I’m building the biggest power plant in Nigeria that will be completed in January 2025. It is a 1,250-megawatt power plant, which will become operational in January.
“During the course of the design and getting the permit, we ran into difficult government officials. For environmental reasons, our permit was denied, and the particular government officials that I held a meeting with told me to my face that my project would never see the light of the day. But while he was saying that, I was saying in my mind that this guy is talking as if he is God. I was saying in my mind that God should listen to him; Because he is not God, whatever he is saying is null and void.”
“So I left, disappointed and I told my Chinese friends that unfortunately we have difficulty and this project is going to stall. Meanwhile, the project is worth about $2 billion. In the process, a lot of money had already gone into the design and preliminaries. Before we get to the stage where we would need a permit and then break ground. So my Chinese friend was worried because the Afrexim Bank of China was involved so that meant bankruptcy for him. I told him not to worry,” he said.
The illustrious businessman further stressed that his Chinese friend had to journey down to Nigeria to discuss a way out because he never believed that prayer was enough to get the project across the line.
He noted that the prayer worked as the then Minister of Power granted the approval because he saw that the project was a brilliant one.
Recall that Adeleke had earlier spoken about the power plant during his lecture at the 9th graduation ceremony of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State in July 2023.
He narrated that his team started the project in a village in Ondo state, and it provided over 1,000 indigenes of the town with employment opportunities, adding that they brought in turbines that cost about $72 million.
However, things took a rather unpleasant turn when looters bungled the power plant site to steal components of the turbine machines worth approximately $5 million.
This caused a temporary setback for the project, which the power magnate now gladly announced that it’s near completion.
