To the random muser, how and why a barrister or lawyer becomes a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) beats the average Nigerian’s imagination.
For Azibaola Robert, a lawyer, construction giant in his own right, environmental protectionist, technological innovation entrepreneur and philanthropist, it is a childhood dream come true.
As a student, Robert’s passion was for the sciences. However by a twist of fate, he ended up studying law at the Rivers State University in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
The “carpenter of things, inspirator, entrepreneur, a thinker and creator of things” as he describes himself spoke to Ahamaefula Egbu in an interview published on ThisDay Newspapers recently.
Azibaola Robert is described as “restively ingenious, irretrievably obsessed with machines” and “puts his life savings on them.”
According to Egbu, “the greatest surprise is that this lawyer and environmental rights activist is a master of all the highly specialised machines in his innovative mechanical engineering hub, a fulfilment of his childhood ambition before he capitulated to his mother’s wish to study law.”
Azibaola Roberts, is the Chairman of Abuja-based Kakatar Construction Engineering, and ZEETIN Engineering, who has “proved to be a man of many parts with a finger in almost all pies of human endeavour.”
He shared the story of his life “emphasising his desire to leave a lasting technological legacy that would free Nigeria from the dependency on foreign products.”
On Wednesday November 3, 2021,
the founder of Zeetin, Nigeria’s precision engineering company, Azibaola Robert, received the management of Hydropolis Investment Limited, the subsidiary of Mainstream Energy Solutions, operators of the Kainji Dam Hydro, on a working visit to Zeetin Factory located at Idu, Abuja, FCT. That visit culminated in a Memorandum of Understanding to partner for Nigeria’s industrialization and technological growth.
Mainstream Energy Solutions, led by its Project Coordinator, Dr. Abdulmalik Ndagi on a working visit to Zeetin Factory for Hydroplolis, is in the process of building a practical Industrial Park in Kainji with the aim of industrializing Nigeria and position it as one of the tourist destinations of the nation
“Zeetin and Hydropolis look forward to working together for the realisation of Hydropolis’ laudable project.”
This passion as exhibited publicly has endeared him to the Nigerian Society of Engineers who have deservedly extended to him an invitation for the Fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE).
One of the six key requirements for consideration for a fellowship of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) is as stated on the body’s website: “the Council of the Society may at its discretion elect distinguished persons to Honorary Fellowship. Such persons, though not necessarily engineers, would normally have used their positions to render notable assistance to the practice of engineering science.”
Azibaola Robert certainly fits the bill and has heeded the call.
The investiture will be aired live on NTA by 10am today (07 December, 2021)
Congratulations to a silent but effective achiever.
More grease to your elbow, humble giant.
Op-ed by Henry Omoregie, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
