Fakuma Joseph Owei-ilagha had his vision well defined for him from the moment he picked up a hammer and knocked a nail through wood. The vision was confirmed when he began to mould castles in the sand. He liked the shape that came out when he stuffed sand all over his right foot at the shores of Twon-Brass, and when he removed his leg slowly, the wet castle stood complete with doors and gradients leading up to where his toes used to be.
All he needed to do was mould cement to the sand, and his castle would be permanent all over the face of the world. And that is exactly what Fakuma did. He went to school to learn how to mix sand and cement in a bid to build houses linked up by decent roads and bridges.
Today, he sits behind a heavy desk of polished brown wood, his back against a wall decorated with several plaques and awards for professional excellence. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Fak Engineering & Construction Company, arguably the first indigenous construction company of its kind in Bayelsa State.
Fakuma virtually epitomizes the early promise of Bayelsa State. He was prepared for the prospect of a new experience in a brand new state, and he was equipped for the assignment in good time. He was a primary witness to the earliest attempts at development in the virgin state, especially because his office at that time was directly involved in the process of land allocation.
But before that, as a qualified young engineer, he joined C & C Construction Company Nigeria Limited in 1995, and took his first practical experience in engineering and construction with salutary results to show for it. He was one of the privileged indigenous Nigerian engineers in the team which pioneered the construction of the Elf Expatriate Residential Quarters, New Haven Estate Artillery, Port Harcourt. He also had the opportunity of working briefly, alongside fellow engineers, on the multi-storied structure that houses the headquarters of the Niger Delta Development Commission, in Port Harcourt today.
He undertook his compulsory one-year industrial training with Dowell Schlumberger Nigeria Limited, a reputable oil field engineering company in 1990, at Port Harcourt. He also marked time in the mandatory one year-long National Youth Service Corps programme in Katsina State between 1994 and 1995. All of these adventures exposed his mind to the great possibilities of the future in a fair and equitable setting where his hopes, dreams and aspirations for town and country would grow into maturity.
In 1997, one year after Bayelsa State was created, Fakuma left C & C Construction, and took up appointment with the Bayelsa State Civil Service. He was posted to the Ministry of Lands and Housing as one of the pioneer civil engineers in the Ministry. By dint of hard work and commitment to duty, he was named as Personal Assistant to the pioneer Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Engr. Ayebaesin Dienegha, in 1998.
He served in that functional capacity for one eventful year up to 1999, by which time he became sufficiently acquainted with the intricacies of the Ministry, and its unique role in the task of developing the new state. He was retained in that position by the successor to that office, Chief Emmanuel Paulker, who later emerged as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Fakuma served under him at the critical turn of the century from 1999 to 2000.
Fakuma is a goal-getter. He will go so far as to say that he simply believes in scoring on the side of excellence. He is convinced as to where his talents lie, and he is determined to make a difference in his chosen profession. It is remarkable that, at a time when it was fashionable to seek engagement into the civil service of a brand new oil-producing state like Bayelsa,
Fakuma voluntarily resigned from the employ of the civil service and plunged into the uncertain world of private entrepreneurship in 2000.
He did this to demonstrate the simple truism that where there is a will, there is a way. If he could do it as an individual, Bayelsa State could do it as a corporate entity, and so can the Niger Delta, given all the required indices of adequate equipment and funding.
He wasted no time to incorporate his own venture, FAK Engineering & Construction Company Nigeria Limited, taking his pre-eminent place as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company. From a modest beginning, the company has since become a foremost building and civil construction service provider. It is known for delivering quality work according to specification, and in good time. The company remains one of the few indigenous pioneers of civil construction in the Niger Delta, if not in Nigeria at large.
Fak Engineering & Construction Company is known to have undertaken such high profile construction jobs as roads, bridges, drainages, hotels, as well as personal and corporate buildings, in the Niger Delta and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The company is also a major employer of labour, having over one hundred professional and other skilled employees in its payroll. Besides, Fak has continued to empower the teeming youth population through direct engagement, contracts and financial assistance.
At the height of construction work along the Melford Okilo Road in Yenagoa under the pioneer civilian government of Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of blessed memory, Fak Engineering was contracted by Julius Berger Nigeria, no less, to undertake the drainage aspect of the work. The outcome satisfied the world-renown construction giant, and the solidity of the work remains evident till date. For that reason, Fakuma has since come to be fondly known, called and addressed as Junior Julius Berger.
A member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Fakuma Joseph Ilagha is a registered member of the Council for the Registration of Engineering in Nigeria, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers. His certification and membership of these professional bodies qualify him to practice engineering in Nigeria, and enables him to enjoy the privileges granted by these respected professional bodies anywhere in the world.
Born on Tuesday 11 January 1966, in Isulo, Anambra State, to parents who were both teachers by profession, young Fakuma began early education at State School Bassambiri, Nembe, where he passed his First School Leaving Certificate in 1978, practically under the guidance of his mother who was a teacher in the school.
After a few years at Nembe National Grammar School, Nembe, he proceeded to Enitonna High School, Port Harcourt, famous for its pioneer status as the first college of its kind in the Niger Delta, having been founded in 1932 and evincing all the high academic standards expected of it. He obtained the West African School Certificate in 1983.
In 1994, he graduated from the University of Port Harcourt where he studied Civil Engineering for five rigorous years. In 2002, he was admitted to the Bayelsa State College of Arts and Science, Agudama-Epie, Yenagoa, where he bagged an Ordinary National Diploma Certificate in Law, with an upper credit. Today, he holds a Masters Degree in Highway, Traffic and Transportation Engineering from the University of Benin.
Fakuma also attended the Dynamic Leadership Development Programme of the Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and obtained a certificate to that effect in 2011. He has received commendation from various corporate bodies for having distinguished himself in his chosen profession, for his contributions towards nation building and sustainable infrastructural development, and for rendering evident service to his immediate local community.
The most remarkable example may well be the construction of the solid unity bridge between Bassambiri and Obolomabiri in Nembe, a task that could not be accomplished by successive governments since the creation of the old Rivers State in 1967.
His company, FAK Engineering & Construction Company (Nigeria) Limited, has been duly identified for excellence by corporate and civil society organizations alike in times past, receiving sundry trophies as the best indigenous construction company in Bayelsa State at various times. He is married to Deaconess Juliet Fakuma-Ilagha (nee Otiotio), and the union is blessed with five lovely children, namely Latei, Gelegu, Iduate, Bau and Daniela.
Engineer Fakuma Joseph Ilagha turned 60 on 11 January 2026, and had cause to play host to family, friends and well-wishers who called to cheer him on his Diamond Jubilee anniversary celebration in Yenagoa.
