By Joe Nwankwo

In the next few months, the dreams of Zeetin Engineering Limited to be the first Nigerian company to manufacture an electric car would become a reality.

Though a daunting task, but with the determination of the company to pioneer the manufacturing of electric cars, the dream would soon come to fruition.

Speaking on the vision behind his venture into the world of technology and engineering Azibaola Robert, said, “In history, there are people who create things and leave behind their mark in the sands of time. I want to leave behind a niche so that, in the near future, when I am no more, the invention will continue to speak for me.

“What I am pioneering now is not about making money but leaving a worthy legacy that others can benefit from. That is all my desire and ambition.”

Born in Otakeme community of Bayelsa State on February 13, 1969, Azibaola Emmanuel Robert has always shown creativity, with a burning desire for designing and craftsmanship even though he ended up graduating with a Law degree at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt.

However, for a lawyer like Azibaola, venturing into the field of scientific invention is not surprising to many that knew him during his secondary education days. He was one of the best science students in his class and also the laboratory prefect of his school. He enrolled science subjects to sit for examinations of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to gain admission to study Law in RSUST, Port Harcourt.

His craving for building and creating things in order to add value to society must have been fired by his radical thinking right from his university days when he served as the vice-president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in 1993 and practised briefly before pitching his tent in human rights’ defence and promotion through the Niger Delta Human and Environmental Recue Organisation (ND-HERO) – a platform he founded to push for development, peace and environmental justice in the oil-producing communities of the Niger Delta.

From the small beginnings as the leader of ND-HERO, Robert went on to establish many high-tech engineering firms such as Mangrovetech, which later changed its name to become Kakatar Construction and Engineering Limited. headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital, Kakatar prides itself as Nigeria’s first indigenous company using only Nigerian engineers to execute infrastructural projects across the different parts of the country.

He is also the founder of Zeetin Engineering Limited. His desire for designing and fabrication gave birth to Zeetin, a company set to design and manufacture made-in-Nigeria cars, and wholly Nigerian-made engines and spare parts. The innovative and CNC precision engineering centre also specialises in the design, fabrication of heavy spares and all kinds of metalwork. Located in Abuja’s Idu Industrial District, Zeetin is fast becoming a tourist site of some sort. It houses the only UMC-1600 machine in Nigeria and the second of its kind in Africa; a versatile five-axis machine that can produce all engine parts, including pistons, engine blocks, crankshafts and more.

A lawyer by profession but an inventor and innovator by passion, Robert is a very versatile and successful entrepreneur. Although he is a new entrant in the machine-manufacturing business, Robert is not an accidental innovator but a diligent planner, explorer and creator who thinks through every process he needs to surmount in order to achieve his set goals.

With a searing zeal, unbridled focus and determination to leave a mark as an inventor, Robert is on the threshold of making history as the pioneer Nigerian lawyer to manufacture electric cars, fully made-in-Nigeria automobile engines, heavy-duty tech machines, including excavators, dozers, trucks and allied machines that Nigeria currently imports from other countries.

Encouraged by his vision to invent basic and avant-garde brands of vehicles for Nigeria, Robert remains firm and resolute to carve a niche in the high-tech industry, especially the car manufacturing sector and to revolutionise technology for the good of his  country Nigeria and people.

Robert, who was called to the Nigerian bar in 1995, goes about the process of perfecting his dream in Abuja, a project that has the potential to thrust on him a global emblem as the first lawyer to produce cars in Nigeria.

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Setting aside his gown and wig, Robert has hands-on experience in welding and fabrication, using high-tech machines that very easily produce any spare-parts needed for virtually any sector in Nigeria, including automobile, aviation, oil and gas, marine and household. When he is either welding or fabricating at his precision engineering factory, not many would ever suspect that he is a lawyer who shows interest in using machines to produce sophisticated equipment. He is a wizard in handling precision-engineering tools and machines, and a delight to watch at work. Easily, he operates all kinds of construction equipment such as excavators, dozers, heavy-duty cranes, graders, you name it!

In the factory, Robert routinely operates all the complex machines and is able to explain to all what each does and how they function. He is a teacher of sorts for machines.

As at today, not many firms in Africa can boast of Robert’s assemblage of high-tech, sophisticated CNC machines and precision engineering equipment in Zeetin Engineering factory in his bid to roll out electric cars, heavy-duty trucks and machines.

Among the already installed and working equipment in Zeetin’s factory are, among others, Waterjet, Plasmajet, Accuway Auto CNC Lathe, UMC-1600 CNC Machine Centre, Hydraulic Plates Rolling machine, hydraulic press brakes,  hydraulic swing beam shears machine, tank dish flanging machine, etc.

All of these equipment and machines, put together, says Robert, can essentially produce any metal component of a car, train, aircraft or any other machine. They are also used in producing spares, forging rings, flanges, bearings, gears, wheels and sleeve rings for use by the automobile, aviation, oil and gas industry.

Not done yet, “I still intend to buy many more,” Robert says. According to him, he likes buying machines that make machines rather than machines that give pleasure such as luxury cars and private jets.

As Robert puts finishing touches to his plans, there is rising hope for the engineering firm to get its first line products out soon, given the assurances of support and partnership that the company is getting from SolidWorks Technologies, the Bank of Industry, the Nigerian Export and Import Bank and the national body of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

“I just want to use my brain and resources to invent something that can add value to Nigeria and Nigerians even though I am a trained lawyer,” Robert said, when asked about the motivation for veering into engineering design, fabrication and production.

In spite of all his success stories, Robert embellishes himself in unadulterated humility while actively pressing the success button to reach his destinations. As close as he is to former President Goodluck Jonathan, who he calls ‘My Brother’, Robert never flew the presidential jet or rode in the same car with His Excellency throughout his tenure as President of Nigeria but chose to work in the background to get things done.

Robert is a humble, gifted and talented personality especially in the areas of creative thinking with vast knowledge in computers and computing and is a wizard in the use of software applications for designs, graphics and programming applications.

Also, he has experience in craftsmanship and carpentry, appreciable knowledge of workings of engines and other mechanical devices including fluids and fluid mechanics as well as power and power systems, all of which is helping him overcome all the challenges in dealing with the huge ambition of churning out cars and trucks at a time of national economic turmoil.

“I want all talented Nigerians at home and abroad to be part of this dream project, from the design stage to fabrication, testing and commissioning,” he says. “So those who know a thing about fluid mechanics, for instance, their talent may be needed. Likewise those in Aba who know something about upholstery and more.”

With each passing day, Robert’s dream of producing Nigeria’s first electric car, truck and other machines, is gradually becoming a reality and bringing him closer to etching his name in history as a revolutionary innovator in technology development in Nigeria and by extension the African continent.