One of the banes of public buildings is maintenance. There are many abandoned government buildings in major cities across the country, especially in Lagos and Abuja. The relocation of the Federal Capital to Abuja in December 1991, was partly due to congestion in Lagos. This issue topped discussions at the 52nd Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB) Conference/Annual General Meeting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the weekend. OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE  reports.

Nigeria has lost billions of naira to public buildings abandonment. Worse still, this problem has created a haven for miscreants. Some of the buildings are derelict because there was no provision for maintenance when they were conceived.

Stakeholders in the building industry were excited when this issue came up at the 52th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB) in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

The theme of the event was “The Role of the Building Profession in the Maintenance of National Assets’’.

Participants argued that the Federal Government’s Executive Order 11 had rekindled hope for the transformation of public buildings through an effective in-built maintenance culture.

In the communiqué released by NIOB, its President, Prof. Yohana Daniel Izam, said Executive Order 11 was a precursor to the National Building Maintenance Policy, which would give legal teeth for the structure and operationalisation of the public buildings maintenance policy.

The don, who is also the vice chancellor of Plateau State University, Bokkos, Jos, lamented that the nation’s maintenance  culture was unplanned rather than preventive.  He said if buildings were well maintained, they would shine in our cities, hence, their sustainabilitywould be ensured

According to him and other speakers at the forum, poor maintenance culture is responsible for the decay of public and private buildings, thereby resulting to inconveniences, economic losses,  and a bad image for the country.

Shortage of skilled workforce reflects on the quality and state of maintenance of buildings across sectors, he added.

Izam regretted that public assets were handed over without maintenance manuals against what obtained in developed climes.

He said: “Lack of understanding of asset and maintenance management framework among stakeholders in Nigeria leads to poor decision-making in maintenance practices across the country.”

Izam listed some factors affecting the maintenance and management of assets as client’s attitude, poor financial support system, and use of sub-standard materials, among others.

On the way forward, he urged public institutions and relevant professional bodies to, as a matter of urgency, pursue the implementation of Executive Order 11 to arrest the fast-deterioration of public assets.

He canvassed that states and other tiers of government should domesticate Executive Order 11, urging  individuals and private sector entities to prioritise and practicalise the maintenance of their assets.

To achieve an effective maintenance culture, stakeholders should focus on establishing an enabling environment, functional organisational structure, occupational standards, and competency of personnel, which would translate into sustainable assets management in the country,” Izam  added.

He urged professionals such as architects and registered engineers, as required in the Nigerian National Building Code, to prepare maintenance manuals that would serve as a guide for effective maintenance management of buildings

The don canvassed the need for the built environment stakeholders to collaborate in addressing challenges affecting the performance of maintenance management practices, which, according to him,  would engender standardisation and quality of built assets.

Chairman, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Dr. Samson Opaluwah, and other members of the institute asked the government and its agencies to put in place a machinery for preventive maintenance practices in line with the provisions of Executive Order 11.

They urged academics to work with the national body, other members and students to draft practice notes and relevant publications for the benefit of the profession and the larger society.

They also asked the built environment professionals to collaborate to ensure the effective maintenance of public assets.

He said: “The professional builders should fortify themselves with the maintenance manual; the artisans should take into cognisance the National Skills Qualification (NSQ) framework and the National Occupation Standard (NOS) for the  stages of maintenance of private and public buildings for sustainable development of the built environment.”

Professional builders in practice and the academia presented several papers, which provided an avenue for interactions to improve building maintenance practices.

They also asked public organisations to be proactive by focusing more on regular preventive maintenance in form of frequent condition assessments for the improvement of quality of public buildings, to avert extensive repairs and renovations that require huge funding.

According to Opaluwah, to achieve an effective maintenance culture, stakeholders should focus on establishing an enabling environment, functional organisational structure, occupational standards, and competency of personnel, which would translate into sustainable assets management.

The highpoint of the event was the inauguration of the Artisans and Craftsmen Empowerment Association (ACEMA).

The conference/AGM ended on a note of optimism with participants enriched with knowledge and filled with the determination to make a positive difference in the maintenance of their assets and those of the private and public sector clients

No fewer than three persons have been jailed for various environmental offences. Another would soon face judgment for patroning a cart pusher.

The Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) Managing Director, Mr. Ibrahim Odumboni, made this known to The Nation.

He noted that the working arrangement with the police was aimed at sustaining the renewed offensive on environmental infractions and unwarranted attacks on the agency’s personnel.

He said: “Last week, we got jail terms for three environmental offenders, with a pending sentence for another person who patronised a cart pusher, making it an offence for anyone to patronise a cart pusher. Before now, we had warned unrepentant environmental violators about our renewed offensive, urging them to shun bad practices. But some people would never change. For three such persons, we secured jail sentences of minimum of two months while one is still pending.”

“I am also happy about LAWMA’s collaboration with the Nigeria Police to end needless attacks on our personnel on day or night duty. That collaboration is also to put an end to cart pushing, as any cart pusher found anywhere in Lagos would be promptly arrested and prosecuted, while those who patronise them would not be spared”, Odumboni stressed.

He noted that another set of 600 carts had been destroyed, bringing the total to about 3,000, in the last 10 weeks.

He warned residents against patronising cart pushers, as both the cart pusher and the patron were liable, and would be accordingly prosecuted.

He said: “We have demolished carts impounded by our enforcement team in the course of their duty. This is to further reinforce our stance that the activities of cart pushers across the Lagos metropolis remain banned. We will not allow anyone or group of persons to undermine the ongoing efforts to establish a sustainable environment.”

Odumboni reiterated the authority’s readiness to absorb willing cart pushers into the waste management system, by offering them an opportunity to serve as uptakers of recyclable items, working hand-in-hand with other stakeholders in the waste management chain.

“The ill effects of cart pushing on our environment and security structure, mean that we have to eradicate it, to preserve lives and properties. Criminals hide under the guise of cart pushing to carry out heinous crimes. However, as I stated earlier in the year, we are offering an opportunity to willing cart pushers to work with us, as offtakers, and by doing so have viable means of livelihood,” he stated.

Odumboni reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to making the metropolis sustainably clean, urging residents to support the authority’s efforts, by shunning improper waste disposal, paying their waste bills and patronising assigned PSP operators.

Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola has criticised property owners for collecting two to three years’ rent, saying it is causing more harm to the economy.

Fashola, who is pushing for monthly rent payments across the country, charged state governments to look at ways to make the payment of rent easier and more comfortable for tenants and landlords.

Fashola spoke during the 11th National Council Meeting on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, in Sokoto State.

The theme of the event was  “Housing our people, by all of government and all our people”.

Fashola said: “I concede that the majority of the houses belong to the private sector and they expect legitimate income from rent for the properties.

“However, I hold a strong view that asking for two to three years’ rent in advance from working-class people as distinct from corporate tenants who may prefer to pay in advance does more harm than good to all concerned and to the economy.

“Interestingly, rent is a matter over which the Federal Government has no constitutional authority because it is a local matter and rightly so. But I use the platform of this meeting to challenge and provoke  state representatives to thoughts and action about how we can make the payment of rent easier and comfortable for both tenants and landlords.” The former Lagos State governor said it would be revolutionary when the working class started paying monthly rent as they received their salaries.

According to him, this would be  possible if home owners see it as   possible and that its adoption would give the fullest possible expression to the theme of this meeting.

Fashola added: “We have introduced Rent-to-Own into our acquisition/sale model for the disposal of the houses in the National Housing Programme.”

In this report, OKWY IROEGBU­CHIKEZIE writes on the effort by the Lagos State Government to mitigate the disasters being caused by Climate Change.

The Ninth Climate Change  Summit provided experts the opportunity to restate the problems caused by climate change and proffer solution to the menace.

But for the Lagos State Government, it was time to present its score card in the subsector to disabuse the minds of those who think the government was not doing enough to reduce the effects of climate change.

At the summit, held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island , Lagos, last week, experts said the coastal city had had its share of the consequences of climate change.

They cited the heavy rains so far in the year and the deaths and destruction that trailed the floods across the country.

Also, the impact of sea level rise has caused extreme ocean surges and increased flooding in most cities. But Lagos is the most vulnerable to the impact of climate change in Nigeria.

At the summit themed “Integrating Climate Actions in Lagos State Development: Investment Opportunities and Trade-offs’’, Director, Centre for Climate Change and Development, Alex Ekwueme University, Prof. Chukwumerije Okereke, said: “There is no doubt that Lagos, with the smallest landmass in Nigeria, is the commercial nerve centre of the nation. It is home to over 75 per cent business concerns, a gateway to the economy of West Africa and a cosmopolitan city.

“Today, it is estimated that Lagos is home to more than 25 million people, the majority of who are poor and live on the fringes of the society. A large percentage of the population of the state is also extremely poor, thereby lacking the required strategies to combat the effects of climate change.

“In addition, a strong and sustained growth of Lagos population and economy has resulted in the vast increase in the urbanised area, and attendant land use change.’’

Also, Okereke, who was the lead speaker at the summit, said climate change impacts might cost as  much $460 billion by 2050.

He lamented that climate change was costing Nigeria $100 billion yearly and would hit about $460 billion by 2050, if nothing urgent  was done.

He said: “From 2020 till now, climate change is already costing N15 trillion, representing two to 11 per cent of the GDP, by 2050 climate change will be costing N69 trillion, representing six to 30 per cent of the GDP.”

The expert, who is also a visiting professor to Oxford University, United Kingdom, said flooding was affecting 25 million Nigerians.

“In Yenagoa, there are 302,782 people estimated to be exposed to high flood risk along the Niger-Benue basin in the Niger Delta area with 630km of land susceptible to flooding.

“In Lagos, 375,000 people are exposed to flooding.The number will increase to about 3.2 million people by 2050.The direct estimate of damage and loss is N1.48 trillion. The total damage and loss, including indirect ones due to flooding is about N2.6 trillion,” he added.

Okereke said with the rise in sea level, an estimated 53 million people might need to be relocated as sea levels might increase by 0.5m.

The don said coastal settlements like Bonny, Forcados, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar were at risk with vast number of oil infrastructure.

He noted that the country had mapped out many policies to mitigate the effects of the menace.

Okereke listed the policies  as long-term sustainability plans to achieve a net-zero emission target by 2060, among others.

However, what is on ground, he stated, does not come anywhere near what is needed to arrest the situation to address the impact of climate change and reduce emissions from industrial activities.

This, he lamented, worries him.

He urged the government to match action with the right policies to achieve the desired results.

“We need to inject a lot of finance and action to stem the problem of climate change,” Okereke said.

Besides, he noted that the effect of climate change on ”our agricultural system was extremely high,” stressing that agriculture constituted about 26 per cent of the nation’s GDP.

“With climate change, you will have drought and it will affect different crops and impose even stronger, negative implications on food security system in the country.

“I have also argued that the depletion of the groundwater around the country caused by climate change and movement of people from the North to the South is fuelling insecurity.

“So, you have desertification in the North, flooding in the West,  erosion in the East and deforestation in the South.

“And all of these things are threatening the existence and the well-being of millions of Nigeria,’’ he added.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said his administration had engaged the private sector, development partners and donor organisations in finding solutions to climate change impacts.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, at the event, said: “Our government is in constant discussion with the private sector, developing partners and donor organisations to find solutions and ways to better adapt to climate impact, with special emphasis on protecting women, children and people with disabilities. This conference is one of the many manifestations of our keenness to engage and collaborate.”

He lamented that people often asked what Lagos government was doing. He stressed that if they were  not  doing anything, Victoria Island on 555 hectares, would have disappeared by 2010, if not that they implemented the take-away from previous summits.

He said: “As has been noted by many, climate change is not a future problem. It is with us here and now, affecting every community in every country, on every continent. We are seeing the impact in everything from wildfires to rising sea levels and flooding, to intensifying heat waves in places where such phenomena used to be unknown.

“Here in Lagos, our status as a littoral state puts us at the mercy of rising sea levels. It cannot be over-emphasised that we are witnessing the increasing interdependencies of systems. With each passing year, the risks of unabated climate change mount.

“Last year, Lagos State took a giant leap by launching the Lagos Climate Action Plan: our second Five-Year Plan, covering 2020– 2025. This plan highlights evidence-based and inclusive climate action that will help create a more resilient Lagos for all.

“In just a year, I  can say with great confidence that the Lagos Climate Action Plan has started to deliver great and impactful rewards, including attracting the attention of critical supporters and partners.

“For example, there is the recently awarded grant by the UK Government (Future Cities Nigeria) to the Lagos State Waterways Authority to improve the ferry services across the state, which will further support our efforts to provide a truly multi-modal transport network for Lagos, with consequent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with road transportation.

“We have recognised that inaction in the face of the devastating impact of Climate Change is not an option. No one will be left untouched. Even worse is the impact on the most vulnerable among us: Women, Children, Persons living with Disabilities, the poor. These categories of people are bound to disproportionately bear the brunt of extreme weather events.’’

Sanwo-Olu also said: “This conference is one of the many manifestations of our keenness to engage and collaborate.”

Besides, he said the state government had embarked on the journey of updating her Development Plan, incorporating climate adaptation and mitigation components in each sector.

According to him, the Lagos Climate Action Plan requires adopting and mainstreaming into all that it could do to realise the set objectives.

The governor  hoped that the deliberations would focus on ensuring that everything done by his government met global best practices.

“We are Africa’s fastest-growing megacity, an emerging global financial centre, a maritime economy, blessed with a very youthful, entrepreneurial population. All of these must be taken into account in fashioning our journey to a resilient future. I very much look forward to the recommendations and action points that will emerge from the summit,” the governor stated.

Earlier, Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, said the state government recognised the impacts of the organised private sector on Lagos’ economic growth  and the commitment of the state government to mainstream climate action in the next phase of its developmental agenda.

Bello scored the state high in its policies on climate change.

“Lagos is the only state in the country that has developed and commenced the implementation of her Climate Action Plan in Nigeria. This Plan highlighted 26 initiatives across adaptation and mitigation actions to advance a sustainable low carbon economy in our quest to achieve net zero by the Year 2050. The Climate Action Plan has opened a new frontier of funding opportunities for adaptation projects in the state.

“It will also interest you to know that the state government, through the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, has signed up to the £15million UKAID Climate action implementation Programme, which will support cities to accelerate implementation from their Climate Action Plans (CAPs). In a short while, Lagos will be benefitting from this fund in the Energy and Waste Sectors.

“Climate Actions require significant investments and it is also a known fact that the economic cost of Climate Change far exceeds the cost of action. That is why the ministry is forward-looking with her collaborative efforts with the private sector in order to maximise the inherent benefits of climate action,” Bello stated.

Real Estate expert, Maureen Amaka Udegbunam has stated her passion for real estate made her venture into the profession.

She said her wealth of experience in the job has been top notch and she has rather become a solution provider to many homes.

The Abia Polytechnic graduate said she would not have fitted into any other job if not for real estate, which she said has given her the exposure and the contacts in life.

Read Also: Why real estate industry needs more regulation, by expert

The social media influencer, who has leveraged on her growing influence to promotes brands, said she has been putting people in the house they’ve always dreamt of.

Maureen who is also known as “Mau Mau Amaka,” said: ” My satisfaction is the positive feedbacks I get from my clients, and I’m always super excited about it.

“When you do a job, and you get a good appraisal, there’s a level of confidence it breeds in you, and it spurs you to double your efforts.”

Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-­Olu last week on Victoria lsland inaugurated the 16th housing project since the inception of his administration.

Unveiling the project, he said the milestone showed the result of collaboration between government and the private sector, He noted that his administration’s drive to provide and decent housing for the residents through public-private collaboration had yielded positive outcomes.

Sanwo-Olu said the urban renewal agenda of the state government remained on course, adding that the overall goal of provision of modern housing and infrastructure was to ensure that the state sustained its growth and the megacity status.

He said: “I congratulate LSDPC and Asset Brooks and Resources Limited on the successful completion of this edifice. Progress is, indeed, achievable when public and private sector enterprises come together, bringing their strengths to the table, for the good of the entire society. This positive outcome is yet another testimony to the effective collaboration between Government and the private sector in the implementation of our agenda to provide affordable and decent housing for our people.

“I am impressed by the quality of work done by the contractor, which reflects the quality of monitoring and supervision by the LSDPC, which has sustained the high standards set long before now. We shall continue to pursue and implement this tried-and-tested model of public-private collaboration, as it has proven to be a potent strategy for keeping up with the rate of demand for housing by our rapidly increasing population.”

Sanwo-Olu said his administration had pursued its urban renewal policy vigorously, which resulted in rehabilitation and reconstruction of various infrastructures across the state.

He promised to continue to provide a supportive environment for business and investment to flourish, while improving life expectancy.

He said the ongoing automation and digitisation reforms in property records and land administration in Lagos were yielding positive outcomes, stressing that the Enterprise Geographic Information System (e-GIS) being introduced by the state government for transparent land allocation would be ready before the end of the year.

“We are giving commitment that before the end of the year, our e-GIS platform, which will unlock openness and raise efficiency in processing of property titles within weeks at applicant’s comfort zone, will be delivered. Disagreements over land titles will be a thing of the past,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He assured residents that provision of decent, affordable housing remained a priority for his administration, disclosing that more housing schemes were due for completion across the state.

LSDPC Managing Director, Mr. Ayodeji Joseph, described the project as “another progress” recorded by the Sanwo-Olu-led administration in closing the housing deficit in Lagos.

Development of the Channel Point Apartments, the agency boss said, was conceptualised during Sanwo-Olu’s tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of LSDPC.

He said the site of the project had two bungalow houses before the agency converted it into a mini estate.

 

Despite economic challenges, especially in the real estate sector of the economy, a developers, Landwey Investment Limited, has concluded plans to deliver on it promise of 2,000 home units to Nigerians in 36 months, in spite of the ever-increasing cost of building materials including cement, blocks, sand, and glass,

According to the firm, the promise came about beause of the jump in the influx of people into Lagos for residential, commercial, and tourist purposes.

Following reports from the Federal Mortgage Bank, Nigeria is plagued with a deficit of about a 28 million housing units leaving many in dire need of a home.

Against this backdrop, LandWey promised to play a significant role in mitigating ths housing deficit by developing contemporary estates.

It would be recalled that one of LandWey’s thriving projects, Urban Prime, an award-winning estate launched three years ago, has delivered over 1000 homes to its customers across the country and beyond.

On the new development at the homes handover ceremony, the Managing Director, LandWey, Adeshola Bello, said “The three-year-old Urban prime project amongst other ongoing projects has been working tirelessly despite the hike in the price of construction materials, inflation, the volume of materials needed and other factors.”

She stressed that “LandWey is on a mission and will stop at nothing to ensure our clients get the best value for their money while we also pay detailed attention to the building process from start to finish.”

Urban Prime which was recently awarded by African property as a residential development in Nigeria sits on over 40 hectares of land with different building prototypes from apartments to semi-detached villas.