The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • ‘How we raised the bar in building standards’

    Lagos-based construction company, ITB Nigeria Limited, has stated that the firm has redefined and raised the standards of buildings and construction in Nigeria.

    Its Managing Director, Mr. Ramzi Chidiac, stated this at a media session in Lagos.

    Chidiac said the firm recently adopted a new slogan “Build it Right” to reflect its adoption of international best practices – it’s use of the right technology; the right processes, the right systems and the right people. The slogan, he adds, reaffirms the company’s unrivaled quality, technology and standards in its various services and operations.

    He said: “At ITB, our core value is to grow through creativity, invention and innovation. ‘Build it Right’ is our way of reaffirming our position. We have unrivaled technology in the construction industry and the projects that we have carried out are a testament to that. We have certainly raised the bar in the way buildings are designed and constructed in Nigeria.

    “To continue to improve on our services and increase clients’ satisfaction, we have gone ahead to invest in multiple resources and affiliates. We are adequately equipped to handle turnkey projects (design and build); we built the first LEED Certified building in Nigeria and we are advocates of smart buildings.”

    ITB, he stressed, was established in 1995 to address the growing demand for innovation and improved engineering expertise in Nigeria.

    “With over two decades of experience in the construction industry, the company’s teams of builders and civil engineering contractors have established ITB as the leading provider of top-quality construction services across the country. The company also has a successful record of accomplishment of delivered projects and strong clients’ relationship.’’

  • Group cleans Arena Market

    The Lagos State Ministry of Environment has praised Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA) for cleaning the Arena Market in Oshodi, Lagos.

    The group cleaned the market in commemoration of the World Cleanup Day.

    Volunteer workers of FBRA led traders and other users of the popular  market in collecting waste from used polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles towards a cleaner and healthier trading environment.

    FBRA held the initiative in collaboration with its partner Recycle Points. It involved collectiong plastic waste for recycling.

    The campaign was used to enlighten traders, shoppers, as well as members of Nurses of-air Foundation on  issues relating to proper disposal and separation of plastic from metal and food waste, recycling, healthy lifestyle and other measures aimed at curbing environmental pollution.

    Commending FBRA for the exercise, the Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Waste Management Division at the Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Mrs. Tolulope Adeyo said the campaign was worth emulating.

    She said the government would be interested in working with FBRA to  rid of plastic waste from the environment, especially PET bottles from the lagoon and canals, to save aquatic lives.

    According to her, the industrialisation level in the state has generated huge waste and raised concerns from the public and private sector, adding that FBRA’s intervention, either in collection or recycling, has saved the situation.

    FBRA Chairman, Mrs. Folasade Morgan said the initiative was executed to demonstrate exemplary steps for others to follow, as PET bottles causes blockage of drainages in many towns and cities.

    Morgan, represented by Mrs. Nwamaka Onyemelukwe, Public Affairs and Communications Manager, The ‘Coca-Cola’ Company Nigeria, said to achieve environmental preservation, Nigerians should imbibe the culture of proper waste disposal and separation for easy recycling into other useful products.

    She added that the value chain involved in the recycling process of PET bottles could lead to job and wealth creation.

    According to her, the Arena Market was chosen for the cleanup because it is strategically situated with lots of people and it is a collection hub for  Recycle Points.

    Commenting on the initiative, Hanaah Afolabi, one of the volunteers from Nigerian Breweries Plc, affirmed that it was exciting showing an exemplary conduct of cleanness and also educating people that indiscriminate disposal of waste, especially PET bottles is not good for the environment.

  • Communities send SOS to Ambode on road

    It was a long and tortuous drive to the community, such that on arrival at the palace of the Olumopo of Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Chief Lamoriyu Isiaka, the visitor’s car bumper had fallen off.

    Such is the deplorable state of  Okun-Mopo/Okun-Aja/Lafiaji/Mopo 1, Mopo 2 and Iwerekun Road in Eti-Osa and Ibeju-Lekki Local Government areas of Lagos State.

    The road, which links the three communities up to the Eleko Beach, also serves as an alternative route to the Lekki-Epe Expressway when there is heavy traffic on it.

    Last weekend, traditional rulers, industrialists, residents and other stakeholders in the communities sent a Save-Our-Soul (SOS) message to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to intervene by helping to reconstruct the 22-kilometre road.

    The community, which residents claim has been in existence for over 500 years, it was gathered, has been maintaining the impassable road through communal efforts and the benevolence of a few industrialists in their domain.

    Chief Isiaka, an octogenarian, said the road has become a sour point in the community’s history, impacting negatively on their source of livelihood. Efforts to fix the road by the community, he further explained, have not yielded the desired dividend. “It is almost impossible to bring all the produce from our farms, such as bananas, garri, and plantain to Lagos. There is no road. We are really suffering. And we called on the governor, but he kept promising us that he would do it. But till today, we are still in the same situation,” Pa Isiaka said.

    He recalled that the hope of the road getting reconstructed was hinged on Ambode’s promises at the town hall meeting they held with him, a few months ago.

    Baale, Mopo 1, Eti-Osa, Chief Akinlade Adekunle,  said the communities had draw government’s attention to their plight and the bridge, including appealing to the House of Assembly.

    “We have spoken to the commissioners for Works and the Environment. All they told us was that they were going to repair the roads. Anytime the governor comes to this area, we inform him about the situation of our roads. Since we were very young and our fathers were following politicians like Obafemi Awolowo and others, these roads have always been like this. It is sad that we vote massively for the ruling party in the state in our communities, but they forget us when they get to power,” he noted.

    The Akogun of Awori land, Chief Atiku Abogun, told The Nation that as a result of the road, the activities in the areas had been affected by the state of the damaged bridge, which he said, has been so for two years and the roads.

    He said the road is of significance to the axis, especially now that the Dangote Refinery is being constructed, because upon its completion, more traffic will flood the area. “This road also leads to Dangote Refinery and people can use it from Igbo-Efon, Lekki Phase 1, Lekki Beach and so on. If the road is motorable, it will ease all the gridlock that may occur in this area,” he said.

    Abogun, who is also the promoter of the Atican Beach Resort, a tourism centre on the beachline of Okun-Ajah, explained that there had been times when various people and at various times brought equipment to test and retest the damaged bridge and roads, but that was always the last they saw of them.

    The community, he said, wants the Ambode administration, to reploicate its infrastructural development in the area.

    “What we need here is the government’s presence. We need them to come and repair the roads for us and put better infrastructure in place for us. We are part of the people that campaigned for them. We voted for them. And this place, I think, is part of Lagos State. It is not outside Lagos State,”Abogun said.

    For the Manager, Atican Beach Resort, Godwin Ogwah, the parlous state of the road is a negative reinforcement for tourism. He advised that the government should prioritise the construction of roads in the area to boost tourism and create good business for the government because she will earn taxes from companies that develop their businesses in the area.

    “Tourism, as we all know, is a great income earner for any government. We have heard the government talking a lot about improving tourism. Every facility in front of the beach is a tourism centre. All the community roads they are developing in so many other places cannot earn them money the way they will make money in this community if they develop our roads because tourism centres will spring up everywhere. Other attaching businesses that go with tourism such as artwork, everything will boom,” Ogwah said.

  • Group to clean market

    THE Food and Beverage Recycling Alliance (FBRA), the ProducerResponsibility Organisation (PRO) for the food and beverage sector, will on Saturday hold a clean up as part of its activities to mark the World Clean-up Day.

    The body, along with its partner, Recycle Points, will tomorrow embark on a clean-up of the Arena market in Oshodi, Lagos. During the exercise, which is also aimed at intensifying awareness on environmental pollution, Alliance volunters would  engage in the cleaning of refuse sites, walkways and drainages in the market.

    The body, in a statement, said  this would be another demonstration of its commitment to a cleaner environment after the recently-signed memorandum of understanding with Ministry of Transport and Environment, Lagos State to rid the waterways of plastic waste.

    The not-for-profit organisation claimed it had been adhering to the Federal Government’s policy on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which transfers the life-cycle of products to manufacturers, especially at the post-consumer stages.

    During the clean-up, stakeholders would discuss crucial proper disposal and recycling, healthy lifestyle and other measures aimed at curbing environmental pollution. FBRA is calling for sectoral action under the platform of a PRO to ensure that companies engage in the recycling to demonstrate its concern for a cleaner and healthier society.

    It said through the PRO, companies could pool resources together to develop and fund a robust buyback scheme that could attract investors in recycling infrastructure.

    FBRA said the strategy would attract investment in research and development of new packaging process.

  • Erosion threatens Awka hotel, judiciary buildings

    The Grand Riviera, a popular three-star hotel in Awka, Anambra State, is facing imminent collapse due to gully erosion occasioned by rainfalls.

    The hotel, the Anambra High Court, which is beside it, and the Federal High Court, which is a few metres away, are threatened by erosion.

    The Federal High Court has already lost part of its premises to the erosion and two other buildings are seriously threatened by the environmental challenge.

    The Manager of the hotel, Mr Tagbo Igboka, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that gully erosion started washing away the foundation of the 12-year-old hotel only about two years ago.

    Igboka said the hotel’s management had spent not less than N20 million on erosion control and repair works since the “unwanted visitor” started encroaching.

    “This is a very popular hotel in Awka. Two former presidents have lodged here including former governors and ministers but, as you can see, erosion is threatening to destroy it.

    “This monument has served for 12 years, but we have battled this menace for five years and spent no less than N20 million to prevent the worst from happening.

    “We have received high-powered delegations on inspection here; people from the Federal Ministry of Environment, the ecological fund and even our own state ministry of environment have visited.

    “However, there has not been any intervention to mitigate the threat from them. The entire buffer you see here, even this one that recently gave way, was done by us. “Yet as a corporate organisation, we have been paying our dues to government,” the manager told NAN.

    Igboka noted that the problem was caused by a particular erosion channel which had made the entire zone a “disaster area”. He said if the channel was linked to the Imoka River, the problem of erosion would be solved.

    The manager expressed the fear that the hotel, which is valued at hundreds of millions, would become rubbles at the onset of another rainy season, if nothing was done about the challenge. Igboka called on the federal and the state governments to speedily intervene to control the menace to prevent an avoidable predicament turning into a disaster.

  • Nigeria to explore avenues to benefit from Green Climate Fund

    THE Federal Government has said it will explore avenues to ensure that the country benefited from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

    Minister of State for Environment, Mallam Ibrahim Jibril, stated this at a Gala Dinner and Certificates Award Night organised by the African Union’s (AU) Scientific, Technical and Research Commission in Abuja, to mark the end of a three-day Capacity Building Consultative Workshop for AU member states.

    The workshop was an avenue to train representatives of African states on how to access the GCF.

    According to the minister, accessing the fund would go a long way towards addressing climate change-related issues in the country.

    He said towards that end, the environment ministry was working with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to generate renewable energy as a way of mitigating the effect of climate change.

    He added that it was to address climate-related issues that Nigeria became the first African country to raise the Sovereign Green Bond in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement of 2015 to which it is a signatory.

    The minister stated that the government would encourage the 36 states to put proposals that would stand the test of time, to benefit from the GCF.

    He urged participants and other stakeholders to return to their various countries and apply the knowledge and lessons learned during the interactive sessions to help grow the various agencies, parastatals, organisations and academic institutions in their countries to grow.

    Highpoint of the evening was the award of certificates of participation to all the key stakeholders, participants and resource persons that were at the workshop. No fewer than 20 African countries were represented at the workshop.

  • Nigeria okays $6.7b plan for Northeast reconstruction

    THE Federal Government says it has developed a N6.7 billion plan for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement of northeast devastated by Boko Haram.

    Nigeria’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the United Nation (UN), Prof. Tijjani Bande, said this at the event tagged “Strengthening the humanitarian and development partnership in the Lake Chad Region” at the UN headquarters in New York.

    The envoy said the plan, known as “Buhari Plan”, aims to advance the humanitarian and development nexus in the country.

    Bande said Nigeria was spearheading the event based on the need to promote across board collaboration and cooperation among countries of the Lake Chad region, the donors and a whole range of humanitarian and development partners.

    Bande said: “At our national level, the $6.7 billion Buhari Plan of Action for the comprehensive Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of the North Eastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad represents an ambitious humanitarian cum development initiative on the part of a national government.

    “It is to demonstrate its total and unshakable commitment to the socio-economic development of the entire area.

    “It is unmistakably true that beyond the challenges lie numerous prospects for harnessing the capacity of the people and natural endowment of the area to facilitate integrated regional socio-economic development.

    “Therefore, the occasion of this side event and its subsequent follow up actions would present opportunity for enhancing the objectives of several initiatives on the Lake Chad, such as the All Lake Chad Governors Forum which held its inaugural meeting in Maiduguri, in May.

    “Also, the Berlin Conference on the Lake Chad has been slated for the first week of September and would build substantially on the outcomes of the February 2017 Oslo Donors Conference on the Lake Chad.

    “I would like to take this opportunity to call on all stakeholders to redouble efforts and commitment towards making the  Berlin Conference on the Lake Chad a watershed.

    “This is in our collective resolve to further mobilise resources and demonstrate implicit commitment to plans that will ensure moving quickly beyond the immediate humanitarian need to concrete sustainable developmental projects capable of substantially elevating the lives of the majority of people in the region.”

    The envoy stressed the need for collaboration and cooperation among countries of the Lake Chad, the donors as well as humanitarian and development partners.

    According to him, collaboration between the humanitarian and development agencies has gained traction at the UN in recent times such that the involvement of national governments is needed to make it work.

    He said the protracted humanitarian and development challenges in the Lake Chad region had place enormous responsibilities on all to remain engaged in discussion aimed at scaling up national, regional and global responses to the crisis.

    These responses need to be bolstered by strengthened coordination at the UN level to ensure a more synergised delivery of assistance, the Nigerian envoy emphasised.

    “Let me emphasise that the recharge of the Lake Chad Basin, capacity building, and restoration of livelihood, through facilitation of occupational opportunities, job creation, skill acquisition and others are central to finding lasting solution to the problem in the region.

    “To realise all these would entail our collective commitment to a broad range of actions, facilitated by strong international cooperation and partnership, involving the UN agencies and development partners, like the World Bank and African Development Bank among others,” Bande said.

    Magagi Louan, Minister of Humanitarian Action and Disaster Management of the Republic of Niger, said the political leadership from the region were working together to ensure comprehensive response to the crisis in the Lake Chad.

    Louan said several mechanisms to address the problem included the institutionalisation of joint security architecture such as the Multinational Joint Task Force and promotion of collaborative social-economic projects under the auspices of the Lake Chad Basin Commission.

    Also, Alifei Moustapha, Permanent Representative of Chad to the UN, disclosed that Chadian Government  set up a new coordination mechanism across the ministries to identify local requirements and develop flexible coherent responses to address the Lake Chad problem.

    Michel Monthe, the Permanent Representative of Cameroon to the UN, stated that his country would finance resilience and socio-economic projects and called for response to humanitarian needs while simultaneously reducing risk and vulnerability.

    The event, sponsored by Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Chad, UN Development Programme and UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, also featured presentations by UN Humanitarian Coordinators for the four countries.

     

     

  • Experts to African govts: restore degraded landscape

    African governments must  restore degraded landscapes to hasten green and inclusive growth on the continent, experts have said.

    They spoke at the global landscapes forum in Nairobi, Kenya.

    The international experts, policymakers and campaigners stated that reclaiming Africa’s degraded landscapes dovetails with the continent’s quest to achieve sustainable development and enhance its resilience in the face of climate change.

    “Urgent and concerted action must be taken to halt land degradation in Africa that has been worsened by population growth, urbanisation and climate change,” said Robert Nasi, the director-general of Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

    More than 1,000 delegates, including Africa’s environment ministers, scientists, industry leaders and grassroots campaigners, attended the two-day Nairobi forum to explore new ways to restore degraded landscapes in a continent on the cusp of industrial take off.

    The high-level forum, which was organised by CIFOR and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), resolved to galvanise attention to the alarming rate of landscapes degradation in Africa estimated at 50,000 hectares yearly.

    Nasi said policy and legislative reforms coupled with public awareness is key to stimulate investments in land reclamation across sub-Saharan Africa.

    “We must incentivise key stakeholders like industry and farmers’ groups to be part of landscapes restoration drive in order to address poverty, hunger, lack of clean drinking water and energy deficit in this continent,” Nasi said.

    Africa is the epicentre of landscapes degradation that could undermine the continent’s ability to sustain economic growth, stability and peace.

    The World Resources Institute reckon that two thirds of Africa’s land mass are degraded while 2.8 million hectares of the continent’s forests have been cleared to pave way for farming or human settlement.

    Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of UNEP, said multilateral institutions have rallied behind rehabilitation of Africa’s degraded ecosystems as means to counter climate change, poverty and biodiversity loss.

  • Diaspora community lauds Edo housing project

    Indigenes of Edo State in  diaspora have thrown their weight behind the expansive 1, 800-unit of Emotan Gardens project in the state.

    The support for the project came at the 27th edition of the Edo National Association Worldwide (ENAW) convention, held in Toronto, Canada,  where several Edo indigenes signed up to the project.

    Emotan Gardens is an ambitious real estate project being developed by the government through the Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA) in partnership with MIXTA Africa, a real estate and property development company.

    The project, upon completion,  would transform the state’s real estate sector and provide affordable housing units to residents and those in the Diaspora.

    EDPA, Executive Chairman, Isoken Omo, noted that members of the diaspora community were enthusiastic about the project as it would be the first government-backed housing project in the last 16 years.

    She said: “Captain Hosa Okunbo bought 10 units of two-bedroom in a row valued at around N50-55 million and donated it to the members of the diaspora community.

    “We did a raffle where 10 people won the houses. Seven women and two men won one unit each. The last one will be used as ENAW liaison office in Benin City.”

    The diaspora community expressed confidence in the governor and his government.

  • All set for Abuja Climate Summit

    Arrangements have been concluded for the “Abuja Climate Summit” which begins tomorrow  and end on Saturday.

    The summit is being put together by Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP) and the Climate and Sustainable Development Network (CSDevNet).

    According to the Executive Director of GIFSEP, David Terungwa, the summit aims at bringing together key stakeholders from the civil society, development partners, religious and traditional leaders, private sector, academia, women, youth, indigenous groups and policy makers to share ideas and perspectives on the progress made in Nigeria’s implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the transition to low-carbon, climate-resilient, green economy trajectory.

    “The summit will also seek to explore and deliberate on converging areas of advocacy and mobilisation from bottom up, inclusive, pro-indigenous people-centered climate responses in FCT Abuja and at the national level among state and non-state actors while working towards and identifying and defining the action agenda for different stakeholders,” he said.

    The GIFSEP chief  noted that with climate impacts escalating, the nation cannot afford the luxury to wait to see what bureaucratic negotiations have to offer. This, he said, is why there is the need to engage local leaders to step up and do everything they can right now.

    The Abuja Climate Summit is part of the Global Day of Action taking place in major cities around the world bringing people to come together to Rise for Climate Action. It will feature will feature a “Walk for Climate.”

    The conference, which is expected to be attended by some 350 delegates, will also feature a presentation on Nigeria’s NDCs: The journey so far; Nigeria’s road map on Transition to renewable energy; panel discussion on religion, the environment and climate change; panel discussion on the role of development partners and examples of key interventions; Panel discussion with Leaders of political parties on the inclusion of environment, climate change and renewable energy in their manifesto; Declaration of Abuja Climate Action, among others.

    A communiqué will be issued at the end of the conference.