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Engr. EZENO GODWIN CHRISTOPHER Tells City People
Engr. Ezeno Godwin .O. Christopher is the brain behind AVE SOLAR ENERGY AND RESOURCES which is all about Solar Installation, Battery Backup for Solar, Residential Solar PV Installation, Solar Panels. He got into the business after three decades experience with P&T NITEL where he was into Internet backbone Provider. This Experience Pushed him into Solar Energy field and due to the Epileptic Power Supply in Nigeria, but as they say , starting your business is like planting a Sapling, first you have to invest your time and money. But when your startup blossoms, it makes all the patience and hardwork worthwhile. In this interview with FAKEYE ADERONKE, Engr. EZENO opened up on why many Nigerians should embrace Solar Energy amidst the high cost of fuel and other sundry issues.
How did the Journey into Solar Energy come up. Was it a Dream you’ve had over the years?
Actually, I worked with P&T NITEL. I worked for thirty years with them and I decided to start something on my own. We were into Internet backbone Provider, so it was after I left NITEL, that I decided to go into the Solar Energy Field. I looked at the ongoing Nepa Situation in the Country and I decided to delve into the Solar Energy because of the Epileptic Nepa Supply in the Country. I retrained my Staffs and that’s where we are now. I also went into the the field to contribute to the development of Nigeria and creating employment opportunities. I have so many reasons for going into the business. Another reason is necessity, number two reason is because of my interest in the business. Three is the prevailing circumstance. Look at me now in the Comfort of my house enjoying my A.C, the light , with no fuel wasted, no noise , no generator maintenance. So Ave SOLAR is into Solar Panels for your home, Small Commercial Solar Installation , Battery Backup for Solar , Residential Solar PV Installation, Home Energy Audits, and Proposal and Cost benefit analysis . After looking at all these , I realize this is really the in- thing. And for sure, Solar is taking over. Though it’s still expensive but over time, things will Change. I told my Engineers to develop Certain things that will make it Cheaper and affordable which we are working towards. We just sent a design to China recently to help us put together things that can make it Cheaper and affordable for Nigerians. The small generator popularly called “ I better pass my neighbor” is quite Costly as small as it is. I didn’t even know its that Costly until we were trying to Prospect a Client and we used “ I better pass my neighbor” generator as Example. And my wife replied that “ I pass my neighbor” is ninety five thousand naira and I was shocked. We discovered that running that is becoming idiotic. Why should one be wasting fuel, the generator noise when the what we will install for you after doing Cost benefit analysis will recover “ I better Pass my neighbor” in two three months and you start enjoying it, it will be on and enjoying the benefits. The Sun is there free of Charge and nobody is asking you to pay for it. So that is some of the things that pushed me into it and then employment. After training my Staffs , about three People left. I didn’t take any penny from them because they were my Old staffs, infact very soon, they will be Competing with me( laughs) because I’m not the type that is bent on money but impacting in the society is very important to me. Let me make some comparison, what I’ll install for two million naira , I’ve seen some Companies that are installing it for three million plus and we are still trying to make it cheap.
How Challenging was the Business at the initial stage?
There is no business that isn’t Challenging at starting Point. It’s not all rosy. Definitely there must be challenges. Every business pass through that tutelage stage especially now that we don’t have all the required staffs because of finance, but in due cause, we will get there and we can’t afford to take credit. There are lots of things to be done, I’m a retiree and even the little I saved when I was into Internet backbone was squandered into Politics (laughs).
Can Solar Energy Survive due to individuals importing generators and the government benefitting from it which is harzardious?
If it’s a Country that makes things work, you don’t even talk about Clean Energy, it’s a sure way of making Nepa work.if alots of people go into Solar Energy, Nepa will concentrate on the industrial usage and that’s my thinking. So it becomes imparative that the government should be able to make.some laws that will enable Solar Energy providers survive. When you pay import duties, You can have some waiver on duties paid and the things come in cheap, definitely people will be able to get the Solar Cheap . It is free up there , just the initial installation that is quite costly at the beginning.
How cheap is Solar Energy for an average Nigerian?
Though the initial installation is a bit high but overtime, you’ll discover that you’ve actually been wasting time, wasting money on generator, wasting money on maintenance of the generator and all that. Though it depends on interest anyway. When we say very high, it depends on what you consider cheap . So we that are in the field know what to do and nobody has ever complained about my installation. So a client must describe what they want before we can consider what to install but with one hundred and fifty thousand naira , you can get a solar from us.
How do you think the government can wage in to encourage Entrepreneurs in Solar Energy Field?
We hear of how people outside the country like Canada for instance, the government have people oriented programs but will it work here in Nigeria? The only way to encourage people is to make it import free or duty free or even make it minimal so that the providers can be able to import their equipment free and then give to clients cheap.
Lets know how growing up was for you?
Well , I am just a common Nigerian,born common. I put in my best as a civil servant, resigned and started my life then. It’s a pity I lost my younger brother few weeks ago. But while growing up he was more popular than me.i am the first of Eleven children. Then I started working as a clerical officer with Ministry of Education in Anambra state and so with that, I was able to further my Education.
