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Osinbajo, Fashola for national dialogue on maintenance

By Victor Gbonegun
30 April 2018   |   4:23 am
To change poor public perception of facility management, industry players are convening a forum to interact with policy makers, organised private sector, managers of public utilities and infrastructure.

Country Manager; Draiklinas Limited, Mr. Afolabi Abrahams(left); Managing Director, Global Property & Facilities Int’l Limited, Dr. MKO Balogun; Chairman, Klinserv Solutions Ltd (Lead Convener), Dr. Tunde Ayeye and Operations Director,, IFS Limited, Emmanuel Atat during a media briefing on the forthcoming World Facilities Management Day celebration in Lagos

To change poor public perception of facility management, industry players are convening a forum to interact with policy makers, organised private sector, managers of public utilities and infrastructure.

The move is part of programmes to commemorate the 2018 World Facilities Management Day celebrated annually and across the globe by practitioners. This year’s forum with the theme: “Effective Maintenance as a tool for National Development” is being organised by Klinserv Solution Limited in conjunction with other facility management industry practitioners will focus on education, healthcare and technology.

Overtime, experts in the built environment have bemoaned the worrisome inertia attitudes toward maintenance of the nations’ national heritage, public utilities and infrastructure that often cost millions of naira in terms of capital investment.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos, the lead convener and group managing director of the International Facilities Services (IFS), Dr. Tunde Ayeye posited that towards accelerating and sustaining the growth patterns in Nigerian economy, a well articulated long term policy on total life cycle management of public assets is urgently required at the national, state and local government levels.

He believes that there is the need for a change of focus on the cost of acquisition of public assets alone without adequate policies and plans that would guarantee that the assets continue to function optimally and serve their intended purpose throughout useful lifecycle of the infrastructure.

Ayeye lamented that one of the biggest challenges facing the economy has been the persistent inability to articulate a sustainable national and sub-national policy/framework that would ensure the regular and effective maintenance of Nigerian public assets such as buildings, utilities, infrastructure and other facilities.

For him, this has led to perennial problems of; poor economic performance, corruption and other societal ills over the years. “From bad roads to poorly maintained bridges, non-functional health centres, and hospitals, dilapidated school buildings, non-functioning refineries, and poor national power infrastructure. Anywhere you look, it is quite evident that the issue of poor maintenance of our public facilities demands national attention”.

According to him, the Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, will deliver the keynote address as well as shares insights on governments plans to improve the country’s’ maintenance culture.

“The policy dialogue is also expecting to host the Minister of Power, Works and Housing; Babatunde Fashola, Minister of health; Prof. Isaac Adewole, Mallam Adamu Adamu who will enrich conversation on infrastructure, health and education facilities and create fertile ground by stakeholders for ideas that would guarantee the establishment of sustainable policy and programs for maintenance for public assets”.

Contributing, the Managing Director of Global Property and Facilities International Limited, Dr. MKO Balogun disclosed that the key areas of focus of this years’ dialogue are infrastructure, health and education.

He explained that efforts toward achieving a legal framework for the industry are currently at an advanced stage at the national assembly. He therefore solicited for the support of professionals in the built sector, which include; engineers, quantity surveyors, architects, estate surveyors and valuers among others.

According to him, the dialogue would open further avenues for job creation, economic development and national prosperity in a sustainable and long lasting manner that utilities the resources of both the public and private sectors as well as local and international supporters.

“The panel discussion on infrastructure and education will be coordinated by Prof. Doyin Salami of the Lagos Business School. This session will have the Director General, Budget Office; Mr. Ben Akabueze, the Chairman House committee on works and infrastructure; Toby Okechukwu, Brent Omdahl of the United States Consulate, the Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Muda Yusuf and Special Adviser to the Lagos Governor on education; Fela Bank-Olemoh.

The event slated for the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos will also be attended by Dr. Olumide Okunola of the World Bank, chairman senate committee on health; Dr. Lanre Tejuoso, Lagos state commissioner for health; Dr. Jide Idris and Dr. Victor Litlhakanyane and John Keraminakis from South Africa”.

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