8 May 2009

A Saudi Arabian company, Arabian Company for Water and Power (ACWA), has disclosed the intention to partner with the Northern Nigerian conglomerate, New Nigeria Development Company (NNDC) to build plant for power generation in the region.

The Vice President, Business Development section of the group, Mr. Stephone Bontepps who stated this when he led a high powered delegation to the corporate headquarters of the NNDC in Kaduna said the company came to the country to contribute in solving the power generation problem.

In four years, he said the company succeeded in generating 6000 mega watts of electricity in Saudi Arabia and that its capital base presently stood at $12 billion. "We are only interested in power generation and we are going to assist the Nigerian government and other interested private companies to build plant and we are going to source for the funds of the projects internationally," he said.

Earlier in his address, the Group Managing Director of NNDC, Alhaji Aliyu Alkali thanked the company for their willingness to partner with the NNDC in power generation and assured them that they would not regret partnering with them. " We have never failed in our partnership agreement and we are not going to fail you people if we go into partnership we have always struggled to fulfill our own side of the agreement and that is why our reputation is outstanding ," he said.

On the profile of the NNDC, he said the company had diversified its activities to cut across many sectors including oil and gas, telecommunication, housing and minerals development.

While lamenting that the company's returns in the textile industry had dwindled, he said NNDC investments in unquoted companies across the country was immeasurable.

Northern Education Needs Attention

Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Emir of Dutse, Alhaji Nuhu Muhammadu Sanusi has urged governors in the northern states to pay more attention to the educational sector, saying the level of education in the north is very poor.

Receiving the Northern Commissioners of Education Forum in his palace yesterday, the emir said; "Our position on education, you know better than me, is a precarious one. We have suffered enough. It is a big shame on all of us that despite years of western civilization, the northern region cannot compete with the south."

Sanusi told the northern governors to stop tying the problem to the dilapidation of schools, saying that had nothing to do with the quality of education.

He pointed out that what the north was lacking was qualified teachers, and urged the governors to start recruiting foreign teachers.

He added that education has no boundary. Declaring the meeting open, Governor Sule Lamido urged the Forum to exploit the commitment of the northern governors to turn around the poor state of education in the north.

Lamido said Jigawa State was committed to the development of education.