With his recently commissioned $100 million fabrication plant in Warri, Ikpea has laid a strong foundation to clinch The Sun Business Person of the Year
Adewale Sanyaolu
When Chinua Achebe wrote in his iconic book, Things Fall Apart, that looking at the mouth of a king, one would not know he ever sucked at his mother’s breasts, he was not talking about 62 years old Dr. Leemon Ikpea, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lee Engineering & Construction Company Limited. But this holds true of this business mogul, who rose from what could pass for the ashes of Warri to an Olympian height in fabrication/construction sub-sector.
Ikpea worked for expatriates for many years, before deciding to retire and start something for himself. In 1991, Lee Engineering was incorporated to provide engineering, procurement and construction services to the oil and gas industry.
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Today, Lee Engineering is a leading indigenous oil, gas and power services company performing brilliantly and professionally in the league of multinationals. With just a makeshift office, at inception in Warri, Delta State, Lee Engineering & Construction, over the years, through dints of hard work and dedication to customer’s satisfaction, has acquired the necessary technical capabilities that has enabled it successfully execute major projects in the industry. The company expanded to have a branch office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and headquarters in Lagos. Beyond the shores of Nigeria, Lee Engineering has offices in the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States of America.
In 2007, the company expanded its scope to include operations as well as maintenance and achieved optimal performance in the operations and maintenance of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 34. It is also into refinery construction. Lee Engineering has expanded into water production and is putting machinery in motion to go into farming and aviation.
With his recently commissioned ultramodern $100 million fabrication plant in Warri, aimed at serving the industrial needs of Nigeria and Africa, especially in the oil and gas and power sectors, Ikpea has laid a strong foundation to clinch The Sun Business Person of the Year 2018.