By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South

President Muhammadu Buhari welcomes the Chairman Lee Engineering and Construction, Mr. Leemon Ikpea while otehrs looked on on during an audience the President granted a high-powered delegation from Itshekiri leaders at the State House, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida 23/02/2018

THE strides of Odonlagbon of Warri Kingdom, Delta State, Chief (Dr) Leemon Ikpea, from his modest surroundings, days gone by, where he scarcely had resources to pay his school fees to the present day where he takes the chair in a multi-billion naira corporation, bestriding oil and gas services, engineering, construction, travels and tours, super market chain, tool and equipment fabrication, manufacturing, all under the Lee Group of Companies, substantiate his choice as Vanguard Businessman of Year. 

READ ALSO:Thrills, frills of ‘Warri Again’ show as Teni, I Go Dye, Gyptian, Omawunmi, ROZE show class(Opens in a new browser tab)

Those who knew when the Ewato kingdom in Edo State-born business mogul started from a rough and ready office in Warri, Delta State today marvel at his makeover, from the fabrication/construction sub-sector which have encapsulated in the massive Lee Engineering and Construction Company Limited.

At the moment, Lee Engineering is a foremost home-grown oil, gas and power services company performing luminously and resourcefully in the confederacy of multinationals. It has branch offices in Warri, Delta State, Benin, Edo State, Port- Harcourt, Rivers State and headquarters in Lagos. Beyond the shores of Nigeria, Lee Engineering has offices in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States of America.

In a hurry to make a mark

Ikpea worked for expatriates for many years before he took leave to start something for himself. In 1991, Lee Engineering was incorporated to provide engineering, procurement and construction services to the oil and gas industry.

In 2007, the company expanded its scope to include operations as well as maintenance and achieved optimal performance in the operations and maintenance of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 34. It is also into refinery construction. Lee Engineering has expanded into water production and is putting machinery in motion to go into farming and aviation.

The self-effacing business mogul believes that with knowledge, one will rule his world and has greatly used it to advance his business concerns. Even with his ever-busy schedule, Ikpea’s quest for knowledge is unquenchable.

Information has it that he slips out once in a while to attend business-related courses and seminars at the celebrated Harvard University, Boston, USA. He has a flair for picking brains and brilliant ideas, which is why in his employees are top-class professionals in diverse fields, both indigenous and foreign. Some of his previous supervisors are now in his employment and working with delight and contentment.

According to one of his managers, “Chief Ikpea makes his physical presence felt in all of these locations, you will never find the chairman in one city for one week, even in Nigeria. He is always on the road, networking, following up on business contacts, both within and abroad, and making sure that his numerous projects are going fine and according to plan, leading by example.

“If he flies a private jet, it is because of his very crowded travel schedules and as a necessity. Another thing that stands him out is his statesmanship. He rides far above elemental and devotee interests, as his network of relationships cut across tribes and races, both within and abroad. His work force is also balanced along this line; you will never find any careless or reckless statement emanating from him. He is at the forefront of the promotion of indigenous technology, to take up the challenges of the oil and gas sector and engineering construction, jobs that were hitherto, the forte of big foreign companies.”

Moral resentment of a nationalist

It was learned that the Utorogu gas plant, located in Delta State, was successfully constructed by his company, Lee Engineering and Construction Company on a build, return and operate basis.

Vanguard discovered that worried about the importation of vital materials in the construction industry from abroad, Ikpea was indignantly motivated to set up a fabrication plant to contribute his quota to the oil and gas sector and also, to tap into the local content drive of the Federal Government.

For that reason, following the footsteps of Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Chief Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors, he decided to indigenize the nation’s technology. The righteous indigenization is what crystallized in the ongoing construction of an ultramodern $100 million fabrication plant, which the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, inspected recently in Warri.

It is aimed at serving the industrial needs of Nigeria and Africa, especially in the oil and gas and power sectors. According to Ikpea: “Our mission is to produce high quality, reliable and durable products, through competent workforce and technology within regulatory laws. We intend to change the existing orientation of clients procuring similar components abroad with scarce hard currency and, in the process boost national economy and reduce procurement lead time.

“If you look around the oil and gas sector, most production is done outside the shores of this country and if we fold our hands and wait for government, foreign firms and partners to transfer technology to this country, I don’t see that happening. Considering the market situation, if they transfer technology to you, the question to ask will be: who will be buying from them?

“We are about 85 percent in completion, we have just gone for the factory acceptance test in Europe and by February 2020, the place will be fully completed. We will then do the test run and after that, we now invite our President to come and commission the factory.”

Govt thumbs up Ikpea

Otunba Adebayo said after inspecting the factory, “The equipment that are made here are to facilitate the production of crude oil and gas, a lot of the equipment being used presently are being imported from abroad. By the time this factory is completed, a lot of the things that we import will not need to be imported anymore; they will be locally manufactured here at Lee engineering”.

Happy with Ikpea’s concept and the project itself, the minister, who stressed its importance in terms of job creation, said: “We are interested in Nigerians being employed and from what I see right now, even though the equipment are not all here yet, they have already sent young Nigerians abroad for training and they still intend to send more, so this is something we are very happy about. By the time the factory is completed next year, the nature of its specialization would create a situation where the country won’t have to import anymore and even people abroad can come and buy from here.”

The company expects to add additional 1000 workers to its present workforce with the indigenous world-class manufacturing and fabrication workshop that will serve the industrial needs of Nigeria and Africa, especially in the oil, gas and power sectors.

A wealth re-distributor

Ikpea, an ideal family man knows that God giveth the power to make wealth and believes that the way to appreciate his maker is not only dedicating his life to him, but redistributing his wealth, particularly towards advancing God’s kingdom and the less privileged.

He sees it as an obligation, having passed through that route of lack and want during his formative years. He knows what it means to be deprived of basic needs, especially school fees for education.

He set up the Agbonjagwe Foundation to take up issues that concern the less privileged, especially as it affects their education.

He has been making noiseless donations to several educational institutions and social welfare programmes all round the country and also touched the lives of many, including family members, friends, colleagues and the general public.

He celebrated his 60th sojourn on the planet earth at the Saint Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos, recently, but nobody would have known that he built the venue of the reception and donated to the church if not that the officiating priest uncovered the act of philanthropy. The industrialist is a loving husband and compassionate father to the children, a steadfast brother to his siblings and benefactor to his staff and colleagues, loyal and faithful friend, especially those he had known from childhood.

His parents actually had their roots from Ewato in Esan South Local Government Area, Edo State and he holds the prominent title of Adolor of Ewato Kingdom. He was raised and bred in Warri.

In fact, very few persons know he is from Edo State, as he is more of a Warri boy. He holds the prestigious title of Odonlagbon of Warri Kingdom, a very rare honour for a non-Itsekiri, bestowed on him by the present Olu of Warri

Unquestionably with a heart thinking of how Nigeria can overcome its industrial challenges and putting in place ideas and structures to prevail over the identified problems without waiting for government, Ikpea deserves our Businessman of the Year award