Clement Onyemelukwe, one of Nigeria’s foremost engineers, is credited with designing and initiating the development of the country’s national electricity grid, the backbone of power transmission still in use today.
Onyemelukwe rose to prominence in 1962 when he was appointed Chief Electrical Engineer at the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (ECN), the forerunner of the present-day Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). At just 30 years old, he spearheaded the ambitious plan to integrate Nigeria’s scattered regional power stations into a centralized grid system.
His vision led to the creation of the National Grid, a network that allowed electricity generated in one part of the country to be transmitted to other regions, ensuring wider access to power. This innovation laid the foundation for Nigeria’s future industrialization and economic growth, even though decades of underinvestment have left the system struggling today.
Beyond his technical brilliance, Onyemelukwe also played a pivotal role in mentoring a new generation of Nigerian engineers and advocating for policies that prioritized self-sufficiency in energy. His contributions remain a cornerstone of Nigeria’s power infrastructure history, and his legacy endures each time electricity flows through the lines he helped design.
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