Business
Businessman Unveils Plans To Make Rivers Investment Hub
A housing and estate investor known as “Mayor of Housing” has unveiled plans to use branding to make Port Harcourt an investment capital in the coming years.
The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, who is the reigning brand champion in the DMOMA Award, told newsmen that Port Harcourt has what it takes to compete with Lagos.
He said branding could be intensified to sell Port Harcourt as rallying point for the South-South/South-East economic boost, saying those who make the Lagos economy tick are mostly from the east of the Niger.
Mr China said the vast infrastructural boost in Port Harcourt is able to support economic investments and attract local and foreign investors going forward.
The 2022 brand award champion said the obsession of his business group is to spread happiness. He revealed his plan for the South/South East, saying it is to bridge the dichotomy between Lagos and South-South/South East economic regions.
According to China, “There seems to be huge dichotomy between here and Lagos. If you get to Lagos, it is a fast-paced fast-moving, highly capitalist and highly independent economy. Ironically, most of the people making these things happen in Lagos are actually from the South-South/South-East economic belt”.
One of the things his group is keen to execute, he stated, is to bridge the quality and activity gap to tame the gap.
“It’s not as if people here want to go spend money in Lagos, but if they can’t find the kind of quality they find in Lagos, everybody naturally gravitates to Lagos.
“So, we want a kind of efficiency and quality that happen in Lagos to be at least represented here (Port Harcourt) and inspire people to stay here. We want people to know that if it’s possible in Lagos, it’s possible here.
“When people here do not find what is in Lagos, they move to Lagos. Our brand is to make people to patronize here. If it is possible in Lagos, it is possible here. And whatever is possible anywhere is possible here”, he said.
The Mayor of Housing is said to be attractive to the youth because of promotion of music, comedy and entertainment.
In this regard, the brand champion said the award being overwhelmingly regarded, especially by the youths, is a call for his organization to help the youth more.
“It’s a motivation for us and a serious commitment to us because we are in pole position to strive harder.
“Any failure on our side will pull down a lot of people and any success is lifting people. For us, the greatest achievement you can have is not profit but that your profit is lifting others to rise. For us, it’s a huge motivation for us to stay on course and keep rising”, he said.
Explaining the essence of DMOMA Award series, the chief organiser, Chidiebere Okoye, said it is an online media award engineered by over 14 bloggers.
Okoye, the Rivers State chairman of bloggers association of Nigeria, said the prestigious DMOMA Award is open to all of Nigeria but is dedicated to promote excellence.
He said: “Nominations for 2023 are already coming in from outside Nigeria such as Kenya and Poland. It is open to the world but Nigeria is the focus, for now. It targets brands and individuals who have achieved uncommon excellence”.
Okoye said the award series seeks to close the economic gap between regions and to unify regions and people as well as bring focus to Port Harcourt.
“It brings all professions together and seeks to unify the nation between the north and south. It also focuses attention on Rivers State as the host state. It beams Rivers State to the world.
“Many personalities that came to Rivers State for the 2022 edition and saw the development and dizzying infrastructure were impressed. This annual event thus promotes the South”, he said.
On unity, the organisers said DMOMA awards series takes nominations from all over Nigeria, hence the South-East and South-South have a chance.
“Winner of music for 2022 is from the north. It brings celebrities and brands together to the South”, he stated, adding that the award is in its 4th edition, and there is a lot of clout about the winners.
“The Mayor of Housing won as the brand champion of the year. His brand is unique. He competed with big names but beat them. Some of them thought size is brand, but people voted for those whose lives were impacted by the brands.
“Big brands wondered why, but they were shown evidence. You do not sit in your house and win. It has processes. People nominate you, vote for you, etc.”, He stated.
He said the Mayor of Housing represents the new face of branding where you connect with the youths, the entertainment players, and those who want to grow, the startups.
“So, it is about excellence and impact on people or community. It’s about impact to lives and businesses. Popularity is good, but it must be followed by impact”.
Showing how the winners are assessed, Okoye said there are ways of verifying the nominees. “Some 14 bloggers are behind this contest. They take their time. They look at the names nominated and then shortlist those that met certain standards.
“Last year, some big brands contested in the brand of the year category which attracted 21 nominations but only four were shortlisted by the award academy. Then public voting followed”.
The award has a fixed date every year (every December 4), but looking back, the CEO of DMOMA said the winners were always the best.
“In 2022, Bro Felix Obuah won the choicest person of the year. It is evident that people love him.
“The man who won Engineer of the Year is known to be loved by workers; other engineers know him. They testified”, he said.
On the Mayor of Housing, he said: “This brand is steadily making waves in Nigeria and Port Harcourt especially. His brand powers music, comedy and entertainment. One artist powered by Mayor of Housing is now abroad, and is an award winner now”.
For the 2023 edition, Okoye said nominations were already coming in and many have nominated the Mayor of Housing again.
“Anybody can nominate anybody. Its open, and it’s going on. There are 37 categories.
“The person that built the UPTH won an award last year. He said since he built it, he is just being mentioned. The award will continue to run because we want to use it to fish out good patriots and those who help the youth”.
Over all, he said, the essence of the award series and brand promotion is to bring attention to the economy of the South-South and South-East and attract the return of businesses and investors to the region by giving them the fast business life in Lagos and create business intensity back to the region.
By: Corlins Walter
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh said this at the 8th annual induction and conference of the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN).
He explained that abandoned projects continue to lock up public funds that could have been used for infrastructure development, industrial growth, job creation and essential social services.
Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Chris Osa Isokpunwu, he said the impact goes beyond financial losses, as incomplete projects affect communities and limit access to important public services
He cited examples of that remain unopened, schools that cannot accommodate students, roads that fail to connect communities and electricity projects that have not delivered their intended benefits.
The Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer of CIPMN, Henry Ifeanyi Mbadiwe, also identified poor project management as a major challenge affecting development in Nigeria.
He revealed that the institute had developed a project management curriculum for Nigerian universities, which has received approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC). The programme is expected to enable universities to offer project management as a bachelor’s degree.
Mbadiwe further referenced findings by the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee, which identified 11,886 ongoing federal capital projects in 2011, with an estimated financial commitment of ?7.78 trillion.
He noted that inadequate planning, supervision, accountability and implementation were among the factors contributing to the abandonment of projects across the country.
The minister called for stronger project management structures across ministries, departments and agencies to improve planning, monitoring and evaluation.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had introduced a 90-day implementation reporting cycle to strengthen transparency and monitor the progress of government programmes.
Ikenga said the company remained committed to Nigeria’s power sector and would continue investing in its operations despite the challenging business environment.
He spoke in Lagos at the third edition of the Shell Power Conference, themed “Powering Nigeria’s Progress: Turning Ambition and Action into Sustainable Impact”.
The Transcorp Power chief said the company would sustain electricity generation, invest in its facilities and deliver value to shareholders.
“Transcorp Power is a long-term player, not a short-term player. This year has been challenging, but what is important is getting power to schools, hospitals and businesses to power progress,” he said.
Ikenga said the company’s focus on operational efficiency and investment had strengthened its contribution to Nigeria’s electricity supply.
He disclosed that since acquiring the Ughelli Power Plant in Delta State in 2013, Transcorp Power had quadrupled its available generation capacity.
He also said the company became the first privatised power generation firm to receive a post-privatisation discharge certificate after fulfilling all its privatisation obligations.
The company’s unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, showed a profit before tax of N83.1 billion, while its profit-before-tax margin rose to 31.2 per cent from 29.6 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Its total assets rose to 11.7 per cent amounting to N629.5 billion, while shareholders’ funds grew 8.9 per cent to N199.8 billion. Cash and cash equivalents also rose to N10.3 billion, supported by improved collections.
On the company’s contribution to grid stability, Ikenga said Transcorp Power’s black-start capability enabled it to restart operations without relying on electricity from the national grid.
He explained that the capability allowed the company to support power restoration following grid disturbances, helping to restore electricity supply to homes, businesses and industries.
Ikenga noted that Nigeria had an installed electricity generation capacity of about 13,000 megawatts, with an estimated potential of 50 gigawatts, adding that realising the potential would require effective coordination across the entire value chain.
“Everything in the value chain has to work,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration among federal and state governments, regulators and private-sector operators, alongside increased private investment, to build a sustainable electricity market.
This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Communications and Press Secretary, Maryann Duke.
The statement said Oyedele pointed to “improved digital systems, including electronic invoicing, as a key driver behind a record of N33tn in government revenue collected between January and October 2026.”
The minister said the performance demonstrated the potential of technology to improve revenue administration, strengthen compliance and increase efficiency across government institutions.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Digital Sovereignty and Ethics: Guarding the Economy for the Next Generation,’ Oyedele warned that Nigeria risked losing substantial economic opportunities if it continued to depend heavily on foreign digital infrastructure.
Citing Nigerian Communications Commission figures, he disclosed that the country recorded more than 157 million active internet subscriptions as of May 2026.
He explained that these connections generated significant volumes of information through financial transactions, healthcare, education and taxation.
However, citing estimates from the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Oyedele said as much as 90 per cent of the country’s data was hosted abroad.
According to him, the situation has implications for foreign exchange expenditure, employment opportunities, technological skills and Nigeria’s control over information generated by its citizens.
He compared the country’s reliance on foreign digital infrastructure with its historical dependence on imported refined petroleum products, warning against a situation where Nigerian data would be processed abroad and the resulting services sold back to domestic users.
The minister consequently advocated greater investment in local data infrastructure, technical expertise, cybersecurity and predictable regulations to enable Nigerian businesses to capture more value from the digital economy.
He clarified that digital sovereignty should not translate into technological isolation but should strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to participate competitively in international markets.
Addressing graduating students, Oyedele urged young Nigerians to become developers of technological solutions rather than remain primarily consumers of products created elsewhere.
He identified artificial intelligence as both a disruptive force and an opportunity for innovation, advising graduates to acquire relevant digital skills alongside critical thinking, creativity, sound judgement and integrity.
The minister also cautioned against irresponsible online behaviour, explaining that digital footprints increasingly influence employment prospects, commercial relationships and professional credibility.
Oyedele outlined five priorities for graduates, including continuous learning, value creation, integrity, responsible digital citizenship and active participation in national development.
“Your degree is evidence of what you have learned. Your competence will demonstrate what you can do. Your character will reveal who you truly are,” he told the graduating students.
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