Dr. Abasiono Okon, CEO of Abaringo Nigeria Limited.
By Abasifreke Effiong
The Chief Executive Officer of Abaringo Nigeria Limited, Dr. Abasiono Okon, says indigenous civil engineering and construction companies as well as contractors have received unprecedented level of patronage under the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel.
Dr. Okon whose company is headquartered in Akwa Ibom State said civil engineering companies owned by Akwa Ibom people have enjoyed huge patronage from the state government.
This according to him has helped to boost the capacity of the indigenous companies and the economy as the state.
“It is obvious that this administration led by His Excellency, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has done well to develop our indigenous companies. Under the previous administration, a few foreign company were handling all the major contracts and that caused serious capital flights. That has changed under this administration and I think the Governor is very intelligent to take such wise decision.
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“Now indigenous companies retention of a chunk of government expenditure on infrastructure within the state’s economy.”
The company’s CEO who spoke on the sideline of a courtesy call on him by members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Akwa Ibom State Council, said many indigenous construction companies in the State can now compete favourably with their foreign counterpart.
“I appreciate Governor Udom Emmanuel for carrying indigenous companies along. That is why Abaringo is coming up. Even though we have not handled major contracts, the sub-contracts we have handled have really motivated us and increased our capacity.”
Using HENSEK, a front-lead civil engineering and construction company handling a-four lane ring road and other major projects in the State as a case, Dr. Okon said because of government patronage the company can do as much as the multinational construction companies.
“This patronage has enhanced the growth of indigenous companies. Use HENSEK as an instance, the company used to hire some of the equipment it did not have but now that government has given it major contracts it has been able to procure his own equipment, now some companies are hiring equipment from HENSEK, that’s growth, that’s capacity building. The owner of the company is focused, the company has built capacity and what that means is that it can deliver projects of any magnitude, so it will get more patronage. This is the kind of capacity that other companies need too.”
Dr. Okon while tasking indigenous companies on project quality and integrity advised companies to avoid taking jobs that will ruin their integrity.
“If you know that the amount quoted to a job will not be enough to deliver a quality job, don’t take the job. Abandoned projects and low quality jobs ruin the integrity of a company, so I advise indigenous companies to avoid this pitfalls.”
The CEO said Abaringo Nigeria Limited founded in 2017 hopes to be among the best construction companies in Nigeria and Africa in the next 10 years.
