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Declare State Of Emergency On National Assets, Experts Tell Buhari
Against the backdrop of challenges facing national assets across the country, the Association of Facilities Management Practitioners of Nigeria (AFMPN), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, to declare state of emergency on public infrastructure.
The call was made by AFMPN President, Collins Osayamwen, in an interview with newsmen, while speaking on the new vista his leadership has opened for the association to play a strategic and critical role as a professional body charged with the responsibility of maintaining and managing public infrastructure if the bill at the National Assembly was passed into law and assented to by Buhari in order for Nigerians to enjoy public assets.
However, Osayamwen pointed out that public infrastructure has not been given the desired attention over the years as a result of not giving recognition to professional facilities managers who government needs to collaborate with to maintain critical national assets worth billions of Naira.
He said, “It is evidently clear that our public infrastructure is in a state of emergency and the government needs to declare a state of emergency in order to rescue our public infrastructure from total collapse.
“The reason for lack of maintenance of our infrastructure is not far-fetched.
“It is because, in Nigeria, the profession that is saddled with the responsibility of looking after the built environment does not exist in the list of professionals that constitute the building team.
“We are seriously concerned about the deplorable state and deficit of public infrastructure in Nigeria. In 2012, the Infrastructure Council of Regulatory Commission (ICRC), alluded that $12billion to $15billion was required annually for the next five to six years to bridge the infrastructure deficit gaps in Nigeria.
“It is worthy of note that if these figures are anything to go by, the situation should have become worse by now, nine years later.”
He also explained that in the built environment, architects are responsible for conceptualisation, design and supervision of the project; the Structural, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and even the IT engineers are responsible for design and construction of the building systems; the building engineer carries out the physical construction of the building.
“Now, let’s examine the role of these professionals. They all perform a certain function and they leave the site once their assignment is completed. Not even one of the professions listed above is trained to look after the building. Once the building is commissioned, they all leave the site for a new project.
“Unfortunately, all the activities carried out in the building up till the stage of completion is less than 20 per cent of the life cycle cost.
“The remaining on-going activities and cost of over 80 per cent is operations and maintenance cost and activities.
“This critical stage in a building life cycle is often neglected, hence, the poor state of our infrastructure. I cannot overemphasize the role of the facilities management practitioners in managing our built environment,” he stated.
According to him, the main reason Nigeria has not been able to maintain her infrastructure is because “the profession responsible for maintenance is not yet recognised for its strategic role in Nigeria as a profession and Facility Management profession is not recognised as a member of the built environment practitioners.
“Maintenance starts from the design stage of a facility. It requires painstaking planning, scheduling, budgeting, sustainable programme management and implementation of maintenance technologies, and others.
“It takes more than culture to effectively and efficiently maintain a facility. It requires time, money, and experience to maintain infrastructure,” he added.
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Rivers Capable Of Delivering Massive Votes For Tinubu, Chinda, Others -Fubara …Charges APC, Rainbow Coalition To Embrace Team Work
Fubara, who stated this yesterday at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Port Harcourt, said the surest path to victory is for the members of the Presidential Campaign Council drawn from the APC and the Rainbow Coalition to embrace the spirit of teamwork.
He said what the state was witnessing in the current political season is a repeat of the successful mobilization done in 2022 and 2023, when a large campaign council worked in unity to deliver victory for him and for President Tinubu.
He added that the present council is bigger, wider and better coordinated and should therefore achieve even better results.
He noted that the beauty of the new council is the fact that some persons who were in the opposition camp during the previous elections are now part of the team, saying their inclusion has made the task easier, provided everyone works as one team and with sincerity of purpose.
The governor thanked the Coordinator of the Presidential Campaign Council for Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, and other leaders who worked tirelessly to bring the council to fruition, stressing that nothing is impossible especially when people work together for a common purpose.
He expressed optimism that with seriousness and commitment, the state would record a higher number of votes than it recorded in 2023.
Fubara, while congratulating members who made the list, appealed to those whose names were omitted not to be discouraged, as there are still sub-committees to be constituted and the list can still be updated, even as he warned against double loyalty.
He said the state has gone past the stage of division and is now looking to the future and what God holds for Rivers people, expressing confidence that with the strategy already put in place, the APC and the Rainbow Coalition would come out victorious in 2027.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Coordinator of the Campaign Council, Chief Nyesom Wike, while inaugurating the Council, lauded Fubara for finding time to attend the ceremony and other engagements of the Council in spite of his busy schedules.
Wike, who is also the National Leader of the PDP/ Rainbow Coalition, reminded members of the Council that they were chosen based on their capacity to participate in the activities of the group and deliver positive results.
He charged them to work hard to win votes for the candidates of the APC and the Rainbow Coalition for the Presidential, Governorship, National Assembly as well as State House of Assembly elections next year.
He disclosed that apart from the Presidential Campaign Council and its sub-committees, the Local Government Campaign Councils will soon be inaugurated to ensure better coverage of the grassroots during the current campaign season.
The Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism has floated a culture content platform in collaboration with digital television group, Multichoice.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Freddy Ndigbara, disclosed this after a meeting with MultiChoice Head of Content Acquisition, Don Dotun Ojon, in Port Harcourt.
He assured that content entrepreneurs and film makers would enjoy the platform by promoting culture and other contents to sell the states tourism potentials.
He said MultiChoice M-net was now open to increase its patronage for content shots on locations in Rivers State, describing the State as one that has numerous potentials for film tourism.
“We were privileged to have Don Ojon with us at the Rivers International Film Festival (RIFF) at the weekend in Bonny and he saw, first hand, the numerous sites and opportunities that are open to creatives in the State. After that, we felt it was important to deepen the conversation and he obliged. This is a cheering news for the sector in the State,” he said.
Ndigbara stated that “Rivers State has many more untold stories to tell, many more contents to reel out and the assurances from the M-net Acquisition Manager is an indication that the industry in the state will soon enjoy a new lease of life”.
The Permanent Secretary thanked Ojon for the visit and assured that creatives in the State would grap this opportunity and show the world that Rivers State is a major hub for film tourism in Nigeria.
On his part, Ojon said the visit was to discuss on ways of promoting tourism in the State using creatives and film.
Ojon said although the company has recently been acquired by canal+ France and is undergoing restructuring, he would promote the chances of Rivers State to host the MultiChoice talent factory in the State.
With Asaba, capital of Delta State, being saturated, Ojon said the next port is Rivers State, which he said is capable of building fresh crop of creatives, new locations, new story lines and concepts.
He, therefore, called for collaboration from stakeholders in the State.
Kevin Nengia
This is according to a campaign timetable released by the APC Campaign Council last month.
The Tide reports that the APC presidential campaign kicked off in Kaduna on October 24 with President Bola Tinubu in attendance.
The campaign train later moved to Cross River, Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ekiti on November 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima representing the President at the rallies.
President Tinubu is personally scheduled to attend 12 states including Rivers, Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos.
The Rivers State rally, scheduled to hold at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, is expected to witness a large crowd of party supporters drawn from a coalition of political parties in the State.
The party is expected to round off its presidential campaign in Lagos State on January 9, 2027.
The Tide reports that Tinubu has not visited Rivers State as President since he assumed office in May 2023. His last physical visit to the State was before his inauguration on Wednesday, May 3 – Thursday, May 4, 2023, when he was hosted by then Governor Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt to commission the Rumuola/Rumuokwuta Flyover and the Magistrates’ Court Complex.
Tomorrow’s visit will be his first to the State since assuming office.
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