The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Bricklayers, Police collaborate on inspection

    Efforts to eradicate incidents of building collapse in Lagos State has given birth to a collaboration between the Lagos State Bricklayers Association and the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos Command. The partnership involves inspection to building construction sites. This was revealed during a courtesy visit the association paid the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, in his office recently.

    The President of the association, Mr. Abel Kayode, said as a quick solution to the menace, there is the need for setting up a task force of building artisans, backed by the police to visit and inspect sites in their localities. The taskforce, he further explained, would inspect foundation digging, block setting, concrete casting, and the use of bamboo in scaffolding, among others with the aim of arresting the activities of quacks. This collaboration is to avoid harassment and intimidation of artisans that would be involved in the exercise.

    “The frequent collapse of buildings in the state with its attendant loss of lives and properties have always been blamed on bricklayers. But bricklayers have been in existence almost since creation, providing shelter for everyone. Now, with the frequency of building collapse in the country, we are beginning to lose our integrity while quacks dominate our profession and if the nation fails to recognise the role of artisans, infrastructural development will be adversely affected,” Kayode said.

    Owoseni, who was represented at the meeting by CSP Lewi Suleman, said the Nigeria Police Force was in support of the association’s attempt at reducing building collapse in the state, adding that all area commands within the state would be notified.

  • Stakeholders applaud CLI

    Stakeholders applaud CLI

    A cross section of market lead ers, community leaders and a federal lawmaker, have lauded the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) of the state government, describing it as a revolutionary move that would go a long way in ensuring proper waste management in accordance with international best practice.

    A member of the House of Representatives representing Agege Federal Constituency, Taofeek Adaranijo, said there was no question about the good intention of government with the initiative, as it would help to checkmate the health challenges associated with filthy environment.

    Adaranijo, a former chairman of Orile-Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA), said with the initiative, Governor Ambode has further demonstrated his genuine intention to transform the state and turn it into a mega city in the true sense of the word.

    “Everybody must key into this initiative because it is a good one aimed at ensuring that we have a clean environment. I want to particularly urge the market men and women, those at the Local Government, the Private Sector Participants (PSP) operators and all the people to support government to achieve the purpose of coming up with this very laudable policy. It is better for us to key into it and ensure that we support government because at the end of the day, the policy is for our greater good,” the lawmaker said.

    In  a  similar vein, the Baba Oja of Irepodun Market, Mr. Abolaji Ambaliu, said the initiative was necessary to  address the myriad of issues associated with the environment. He said it was now visible to everyone that the environment was becoming too dirty, and government should not fold its arms, hence the laudable initiative.

    “I think the Cleaner Lagos Initiative is a good one and Lagos will be better for it. All I just want to say is that government should strictly enforce the new law signed as part of the initiative,” Ambaliu said.

  • ERA/FoEN alerts on dumped toxic waste in Delta

    The Environmental Rights Agenda/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has raised the alarm on the presence of substances suspected to be toxic waste in Koko community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State.

    ERA/FoEN, Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, at a briefing in Lagos, urged the Delta State Government and the National Environmental Standard and Regulation Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to immediately set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the development. Ojo identified Ebenco Global Link Limited, as the company responsible for the dumping of the toxic waste in Koko community, which he claimed has been on for over three months.

    “This is not the first time this is happening. To refresh our memory, persistence ecological onslaught on the people of the Niger Delta being perpetrated by corporations and their Nigerian collaborators continues unabated leading to massive pollution of water bodies and soil contamination,” he said.

    He recalled that in 1988, Italian businessmen, Gianfranco Raffaeli and Renato Pent, of Waste Broker firms, Ecomar and Jelly Wax respectively, signed an illegal agreement with an unsuspecting Nigerian businessman, Sunday Nana, to use his property for the storage of 18,000 drums of hazardous waste for approximately $100 a month. Italy is believed to produce between 40 and 50 million tonnes of industrial waste and 16 million tonnes of household wastes each year, most of which are exported to developing countries like Nigeria for disposal, ERA noted. Nana, Ojo continued, was made to believe that the wastes were residual and allied chemicals relating to the building industry. “By the time the truth came out, it was discovered that the contents included ‘toxic and radioactive’ substances, including asbestos fibre and dioxin.” Nana was said to have died while looking after the substances.

    To address the issue, ERA/FoEN wants NESREA to live up to its responsibility of protecting the environment and enforce compliance with all environmental laws, both in Nigeria as well as international agreements, protocols and treaties on the environment to which Nigeria is signatory.

    “Delta State Ministry of Environment and the Federal Ministry of Environment should also step into the situation and collaborate for a proper commission of inquiry to unravel the persistence of toxic waste dumping in Koko. Ebenco Global Link should be compelled to clean up its mess in Koko and evacuate its hazardous wastes, including those allegedly surreptitiously buried in large quantities,” ERA/FoEN demanded.

    ERA also wants Ebenco to pay specified penalties and fines as well as compensation, to be imposed by NESREA and the Federal Government, to victims/community people whose lands have been contaminated.

  • ‘How to strengthen oil, gas industry’

    The Federal Government should reposition the oil and gas sector for growth by designing implemen-ting good policies, industry stakeholders have said.

    The stakeholders include the Chairman, Schlumberger in Africa, Mr. Sola Oyinlola, Head of Oil and Gas, Renaissance Capital, Ildar Davletshin and ExxonMobil Production Company President , Mr. Neil Duffin.

    The sector, according to them,  has suffered stunted growth due to problems of theft, pipeline vandalism and poor investments. The development, they said, has resulted in divestment of assets by International Oil Companies (IOCs) and  movement from onshore to offshore fields in order to survive.

    Oyinlola said the government can help solve the problems by providing a well articulated policy framework to guide operators in the industry. He said good policies were lacking in the sector, which also caused problems for the operators and the government.

    He said the laws and regulations guiding the industry were outdated and needed to be overhauled to encourage growth. He urged the Federal Government to implement policies that would spur growth in the sector.

    Oyinlola said: “The Muhammad Buhari led administration is trying to give direction to the sector by ensuring that operators play in line with the rules guiding the industry. We  are optimistic that the challenges in the industry would be tackled expeditiously to provide a new dynamic investment destination.”

    He said there were untapped opportunities in the sector despite the successes recorded by some of the operators. He then advised the government to formulate and implement policies that would enable operators maximise gains of investments and further achieve good profit margins.

    According to him, when good policies are in place, operators would execute projects, bring in new investors and spur the growth of the industry.

    Duffin said ExxonMobil was able to execute Erha North Phase II project because there were good policies in place. He said the project was a deepwater development located 60 miles offshore of Nigeria in 3,300 feet of water and four miles north of the Erha field.

    Duffin said: “Executing successful projects such as Erha North Phase 2 ahead of schedule and under budget results from ExxonMobil’s disciplined project management approach and expertise. It was as a result of a well implemented oil and gas policies. Based on this, we have been able to create additional shareholder value by optimising existing infrastructure, which reduces capital spending requirements and improves capital efficiency.”

    He said Erha North Phase II project has since 2006 delivered additional 165 million barrels of crude to Nigeria with a peak production of 65,000 barrels per day.

    Davletshin urged the government to use its mandate to implement the much-needed reforms in the oil and gas sector since the industry is the mainstay of the economy.

    “While it is unlikely that Nigeria will escape its dependence on the sector, there is clear potential for the country to strengthen its oil and gas industry and develop a more diversified and balanced economy, following the successful models of resource-rich countries such as Canada, Norway and Australia,” he said.

  • Elegushi, British envoy endorse Imperial Business City

    Elegushi, British envoy endorse Imperial Business City

    The infrastructural investment of the Lagos state government along the Lekki/ Ajah corridor has been applauded by the Elegushi of Ikate Land and Environ, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, the Kunsenla III.

    The Monarch, who spoke while receiving the Director, Department of International Trade, British High Commission in Nigeria, Ahmed Bashir in his palace last Monday, said government’s investments along the axis are justifiable, given that a World Bank report rated the corridor as the fastest developing corridor in West Africa, saying the corridor that used to be a rural area  has now grown to become an urban mega city.

    The Oba said the Elegushi Royal Family has thrown its weight behind the development of the Imperial International Business City (IIBC) project, assuring that the project is expected to give birth to the development of a brand new city on 200 hectares of land to be attained by dredging of  the Lagos Lagoon, which will in effect expand the ancient Ikate city and also extend Lekki phase 1. The dredging will be between two and 2.5 metres above sea level to avoid flooding, which is a common feature on the Lekki axis.

    The IIBC being built on the Lagos lagoon, will run from the end of Freedom Road to the end of NICON town; streching, from freedom road to Kunsenla Road, to Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi Road, through Lekki Phase 1 ( Lekki Third Roundabout). Its access routes will be through fourth Roundabout of Lekki-Epe high way, by Spa Supermarket before Jakande bus stop.

    “We always go with the trend and the best. We talk about change in Nigeria and I think its high time the change gets started. This IIBC project is all about leaving a legacy and by doing this in this corridor, we would have shown that Nigerians can achieve same feat , as is achieved in other developed climes,” Oba Elegushi said.

    Also, Bashir said the  Commission can collaborate with the developers of IIBC in areas of Infrastructural development on the project such as energy, efficient transport and ICT.

    At the meeting Bashir assured Oba Elegushi that the UK Department of International Trade will lend a helping hand and allow the developers to leverage on its experience and contact in making the IIBC dream a reality.

    The Department, he also revealed, will introduce the project developers to willing investors from the UK. He said that Lagos state is a fast developing economic nerve centre of Africa; hence, such laudable projects should be encouraged if the state is to meet the housing needs of its growing population and its demands for wold class infrastructural developments. This he stressed also fits perfectly with the plan of the UK government in helping emerging economies grow faster and also fully develops its potentials.

    The Royal Father assured that the IIBC upon completion, will not pose any infrastructural challenge to the Masterplan of the axis, but rather complement it, adding  that already, there are two extra roads that are about to be constructed by government- a coastal road and an inland road. This is aside the proposed fourth mainland bridge to be built which will also serve the corridor.

    The Managing Director of ChannelDrill Resources, Femi Akioye, said since IIBC is a new city being built from the scratch, the firm has decided to make it a fully planned city with distinct zones and building regulations. Each zone, he said, will have low, medium and high density areas with water view.

    “The Lekki-Epe corridor is reputed as the fastest growing city, not only in Nigeria, but in the whole of West Africa, with the biggest seaport, airport, refineries and other infrastructure coming up.

    “The people who will work there must live somewhere, and this is a motivation for developers. The future demand of the Lekki Free Trade Zone will only increase demand for comfortable homes within the metropolis,” Akioye said.

    Expressing optimism on the prospects of the IIBC, the ChannelDrill boss, said the new city will correct some of the mistakes recorded in the development of Lekki Phase 1. The project, he further explained, gives the developers the opportunity to build smart and go-green for the future.

    Akioye assured that the city will be well planned and will be Africa’s first eco-friendly city. This will be achieved with the creation of lakes and waterways within the city, as well as underground drains, the first smart shopping mall in the country and the first six-star hotel in Africa to be built.

    Other infrastructure to be put in place by ChannelDrill includes a 250-metre entrance road. The road network will include walkway and bicycle way; waterway and lakes; underground drainage, sewage treatment, potable water and water treatment plant, independent gas fired electricity and cooking gas piped to every house, including fibre optics cable. Others are cloud enabled communication network and smart city/house infrastructure for willing subscribers; mini-marina and water park, Mini Gulf course;  Shopping Mall; among others.

  • Gemade: Senate ’ll review FMBN, FHA laws

    Gemade: Senate ’ll review FMBN, FHA laws

    The Senate is to review the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and Federal Housing Authority (FHA) laws to enable Nigerians benefit from some affordable housing schemes, its Housing Committee Chairman,   Senator Barnabas Gemade, has said.

    Gemade, who spoke at a ceremony in Abuja, to commemo-rate the partnership between the FHA and a private developer, Bauhaus International Limited (BIL), said the deal would lead to the construction of Rockville Garden Estate, comprising 260 housing units in Guzape in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The estate, said   to be a smart city, will be made up of detached duplexes, twin duplexes, terrace houses, two bedrooms, and  one bedroom luxury apartments. The project has a completion period of 30 months.

    He said: “This noble gesture is aimed at housing at least 260 families and is by no means a small feat considering the economic, business environment and current acute shortage of funds.” He stressed the importance of the National Assembly working in partnership with stakeholders to explore different interventions and bridge the housing gap at all levels and build more than 10 million housing units in the country.

    Also speaking, the FHA Managing Director, Prof Mohammed Al-Amin, said the Authority intends to achieve greater efficiency in housing delivery, encourage the use of modern technology, as well as the  injection of private sector funding into the sector.

    He said the project was planned to add a minimum of 1,500 housing units to the FCT housing stock. It sits on a portion of the FHA’s 100 hectares of land situated across two districts of Apo and Guzape. The land was acquired for housing development for the medium and high income groups.

    Al-Amin expressed the hope that on completion, the estate would provide a safe, comfortable, attractive and functional shelter, utilising the ambient terrain and a functional neighbourhood. He said  the FHA has developed not less than 15,000 housing units in the FCT since 1991. FHA, he further revealed, initiated the private, public partnership model of housing delivery following its lean financial muscle to deliver on her mandate was limited.

    The Executive Chairman of BIL, Victor Onukwugha, remarked that housing all over the world has become a hydra-headed socio-economic problem that needs to be tackled frontally. He therefore assured that Rockville Gardens Estate will be fitted with smart technology-sensors embedded in streets and homes, Wi-Fi broadcasts and other information and communication technologies for lifestyle living and also provide serenity, and security for its residents.

  • Green bonds: nine varsities to get clean energy

    The Federal Government is to power nine universities with solar energy,  the Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman Jibril, has said.

    He said thisis in line with government’s efforts to ensure a clean and healthy environment through the issuance of sovereign green bonds. He made the submission last week when he paid a working visit to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Solar Energy Limited (NSEL) Plant, located in Karshi, Abuja.

    Jibril described the decision to power the tertiary institutions with solar energy as a laudable development, which according to him, is in line with the nation’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) that aims at reducing carbon emissions in line with global best practices.

    The Minister said his visit to the solar energy plant was to identify with as well as offer the ministry’s support to the local manufacturing company in the production of solar panel. He ýstressed that renewable energy is a critical focus of the soon-to-be-launched green bond project.

    He further maintained that solar energy would encourage the use of local content which will in turn help the country to save foreign exchange as well as create employment for the teeming youths.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of NASENI Solar Energy Limited, Prof. Mohammed Haruna, noted that the plant was the first Solar PV Module/Solar Panel manufacturing company in Nigeria. He also disclosed that the plant has a 7.5 megawatts (MW) capacity and can produce all sizes and capacities of Solar PV module.

  • FMBN spends N1.4b on housing units in Niger

    The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has disclosed that N1.4 billion have been expended for the development of 379 housing units in Niger State just as the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Mustapha Baba Shehuri, said the nation needs 17 million houses to meet up with the challenge of housing deficit.

    The Minister who stated this at the commissioning of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and Sea Mountain 133 Housing Estate in Minna, Niger state said that with the need of 720, 000 housing units per annum, the annual aggregate production of 100 housing units is not tenable to meet the huge gap of housing in the nation.

    “The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing will continue to strive to ensure that the challenges of housing deficit in Nigeria which has been put at 16 to 17 million units is surmountable.

    “With a population of about 200 million that is growing at an average rate of three per cent per annum couple with an annual rural urban migration rate of over 5 per cent, Nigeria is said to be in need of about 720, 000 housing units per annum. Currently, the annual aggregate production is about 100,000 housing units, thereby leaving a huge gap.”

    The Minister said that the Ministry’s plan to build mass housing units in every state of the federation for public workers annually over the next three years has reached an advanced stage of implementation.

    He further said that National Housing Models have been designed and approved for each geo-political zone while commending the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria for its efforts in stepping up to the challenge of housing deficit.

    In his address, the Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Richard Esin said the estate which comprises of 51 units of three bedroom bungalows and 82 units of two bedroom bungalows costs N5 million for two bedroom semi-detached bungalows and N7 million for 3 bedroom fully detached bungalow.

    According to him, FMBN has invested N1.4 billion for the development of 379 housing units in Niger state emphazing on its mandate to provide Nigerians access to mortgage finance at affordable rates to enable them own houses of their own.

    Esin then appealed to the Niger state government to resume remittance of workers contribution to the National Housing Fund to enable them access the National Housing Fund mortgage loans.

  • ‘We must develop underground space to decongest cities’

    ‘We must develop underground space to decongest cities’

    The Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD), Ado-Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, has reiterated the call for the development of underground space in order to reduce surface congestion and bridge infrastructural gap.

    Babalola, while receiving members of the Tunnelling Association of Nigeria (TAN), at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, said underground space development as a long overdue concept that should be deployed in Nigeria.

    Noting that the country was ripe for the tunnelling technology, especially in expanding facilities for transportation, power and water supply to reduce stress in major cities, especially Lagos, the legal icon, said although the idea of tunnels is not new globally, there is an urgent need to introduce it as solution to Nigeria’s infrastructural challenges in national planning.

    “It is a very lofty idea that we should key into. I know tunnels in London, France and other major cities in the world that have used this technology to solve infrastructural challenges. We need it here in Nigeria also, especially in Lagos,” he emphasised.

    He said ABUAD, as a leading engineering institution in the country, would partner with TAN in its bid to promote capacity-building in tunnelling as an emerging engineering field in Nigeria.

    TAN’s leader of delegation, Imo Ekpo, said they were in the university to seek collaboration and participation towards the association’s first international tunneling conference scheduled to hold between 29th – 30th March in Lagos. The conference is themed: “Developing the Tunnelling and Underground Space Industry in Nigeria.”

    He revealed that the association is currently working on a 10-year capacity building plan in partnership with one federal, state and private university. “We’re looking at the prospects of opening up our infrastructures to the best practices globally and ease off surface utilities by developing the underground space in Nigeria,” Ekpo said.

    He noted that Nigeria, as a member nation of the ITA, now has access to specific international scholarships for tunnellng and underground development as well as exchange programmes with countries currently developing major underground projects.

    The President of the International Tunnelling Association, Dr. Tarcisio Celestino, is expected to lead other participants from across the globe to the planned TAN conference in Lagos later this month.

  • ‘Clean-up Nigeria’ scrubs Isolo

    It was indeed a green party in Isolo recently as youths, passionate for a cleaner environment, came out en-mass under the African Clean-up Initiative platform for “Clean-up Isolo” in an event tagged, “Green Valentine Clean-Up Special”.

    The event, which marked the 13th clean-up exercise of the Clean-up Nigeria project, an African Clean-up initiative, was organised in partnership with Greenhill Recycling to show love to the people of Isolo as well as raise environmentally conscious citizens while sensitising them on the need for a clean environment.

    The event convener, Alex Akhigbe, noted: “Out of the 12 successful projects that have been carried out by Clean-up Nigeria, this particular one seems to amaze me because, aside the support of volunteers from different part of Lagos and outside the state joining in the clean-up exercise, the people in the community also joined and we were able to clean all the gutters, blocked drainage and also swept the streets.”