The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal Secretariat

  • FG needs N40b to reconstruct nine public buildings

    …Nigeria’s maintenance culture worrisome

     

    The Federal Government has disclosed that about N40 billion is required to replace nine public buildings that are currently in bad shape.

    The buildings include; the prison, court, federal secretariat, hospital, a federal government college and four of blocks of building in the ministry of Power, Works and Housing including the powerhouse.

    The government also disclosed that the country was capable of saving billions of Naira annually if members of the public embrace maintenance as they do religion.

    This was disclosed in Abuja on Thursday by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola during the public presentation of the ‘National Public Building Maintenance Policy’.

    The Minister also stated that data from other countries shows that maintenance contributes about 3 percent to South Africa, Canada and United States of America’s GDP.

    Speaking on the importance of the policy, the minister said: “The federal government’s decision on maintenance is an economic decision. It is meant to empower Nigerians at the base of the economic pyramid especially those who are artisans.

    “It is also meant to empower the middle class; those who are in small and medium scale enterprises, manufacturers of cottage industry produced equipment and generally drive the growth of Nigeria’s economy.”

    On the financial implication of poor maintenance, the Minister said: “We used nine public buildings as pilot; the prison, court, federal secretariat, hospital, federal government college and four of our buildings and the power house. The total overview of those nine buildings showed to us that it will cost about N40billion to replace those buildings.

    “We thought that if we pursue maintenance at about N600 million to N900 million per annum, those buildings can achieve their desired life of between 50 to 70 years. If we had N40 billion in any event, instead of using them to replace existing buildings, we should be using them to expand and provide more for our growing population.

    He also said maintenance would create employment opportunities. “If we spend under a billion a year, we found out that we will be employing over 400 people in just those nine buildings.

    “One of the schools will require about 34 people and I did a quick check; there are about 104 unity schools, so if you multiply 34 by 104 for schools alone, you will begin to see the numbers we are seeing.

    “In the ministry of interior alone, if the work begins to get to prison to make sure that there is water, electricity and that roofs don’t leak; just imagine if it spreads across all the police stations in Nigeria because they are public buildings as well. Can we then truly say that there will be no work in this economy?”

    Giving an instance of the workability of the policy, the minister said: “The data available from South Africa, Canada and the United States shows that maintenance as an economy contributes from 1.5 percent to 3 percent GDP contribution and that is massive and that is why I feel I need to let people know that what we have signed unto is enormous and that is why I said this is the work that I have done here that I am most proud of and I hope that I live to see the result.”

    Commenting on recent law prohibiting discrimination against people living with disability, Fashola urged architects to brace up to achieve the five years compliance target set.

    He said: “On the signing of the law to protect people who are living with disability or discrimination, we require five years to achieve compliance. Compliance means that in every public building, a person living with disability can operate, function, climb and descend without assistance. So, apart from lifts, there must be ramps to enable those who are in wheel chairs move freely.

    “So, our architects must brace up in designing buildings at the proper slope. Our parking lots must now have designated number of parking spaces for people living with disability. Our airports will have to be retrofitted and redesigned to provide a dedicated channel for entry and exit points as seen all over the world.

    Read Also: CCT resumes Onnoghen’s trial Monday

    “What President Buhari has done with that law is profound. A new status and new way of life has been presented to us. He has done his job, we must do ours. So, we have to retrofit all those buildings within the next fives years and as we do that, people will be employed and lives will change in one month.

    On whether there would be sanctions for those who fail to comply with the policy, he said: “We all need to work to achieve the purpose of this policy. In this country, people go to churches and mosque not because they are forced to but because they are convinced that it is the right thing. That same attitude applied in going to places of worship should be applied to the maintenance of our building. Let maintenance be our new religion”.

     

  • Workers shun offices in Federal Secretariat, FCT

    Workers shun offices in Federal Secretariat, FCT

    Only a few workers resumed duty yesterday at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja after the New Year holiday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that official activities were still at a low ebb due to the poor turnout of workers at their duty posts.

    The Federal Government declared Monday, Dec. 25, Tuesday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 1 as public holidays for Christmas, Boxing Day and the New Year.

    Commercial activities at the secretariat were equally low, as many traders around the complex had yet to report for business.

    Some of the workers, who spoke with NAN, however, expressed optimism that the country would experience a better turnaround in the New Year.

    Mr Tony Ihuoha, a civil servant said that it was time for Nigerian workers to rededicate themselves to work for greater productivity.

    “If we can work harder to improve on our contributions to national development, Nigeria will be better for it.

    He, however, argued that the low turnout of workers could be because many of them who travelled for the holidays had yet to return.

    At the phase 3 of the secretariat, including the Ministry of Education, some civil servants were seen treating files and attending to people.

    Mrs Dorcas Babatunde, a civil servant, told NAN that the holidays had come and gone and it was necessary for workers to be at their duty posts.

    Babatunde said that though, work had resumed, full activities had yet to pick up in the offices.

    “The year has started on a good note; some workers have resumed work while others are yet to return to office.

    “I believe that by Monday, activities would have taken shape at the secretariat.

    Miss Chinenye Eze, a recharge card seller said that business was dull as many of her customers had not resumed work.

    Eze, who was hopeful that things would get better as soon as many of the workers return, said sales were very low on resumption of work.

    Also Mrs Iyabo Agbaje, a food vendor, said it was a normal thing eon the resumption of work to experience low sales.

    “I have learnt from experience that there would always be a low turnout of workers the first day of work,” she added.

    NAN also reports that the ever busy car park at the Eagles Square was empty, as few vehicles were parked there.

    A car park attendant, Mr Abdul Ilori, described as unimpressive, the resumption of work by civil servants after the New Year holiday.

    Ilori admitted that patronage was also low, blaming the situation on the fact that most civil servants had yet to resume

    There was low turn-out of workers have been recorded in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, after the New New Year holiday.

    The Federal Government had declared Monday, Dec. 25, 2017; Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2017; and Monday, Jan. 1, 2018, as public holidays for the Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year celebrations to enable Nigerians enjoy Yuletide.

    Workers were expected to resume normal duty after Yuletide holiday.

    However, activities at the Federal Secretariat and various Ministries, Departments and Parastatals (MDAs), Abuja, was low as few workers resumed for duty.

    NAN correspondents who went round the MDAs yesterday reports that the majority of the workers were yet to resume.

    Commercial activities around the secretariat were low as many people who engaged trading were also not present.

    At the Phase 3 of the secretariat, housing the Federal Ministry of Education, civil servants were seen treating files and attending to their schedule of work.

     

  • Fire at federal secretariat in Abuja

    Fire at federal secretariat in Abuja

    There was a fire outbreak at the Federal Civil Service Secretariat, Abuja on Saturday morning.

    An eyewitness said the inferno which started from an office on the third floor in the Ministry of Tourism destroyed electronic items and furnitures worth millions of naira before it was put off by men of the Federal Fire Service (FFS).

    Our correspondent gathered that the fire was observed by security personnel who raised alarm that drawn the attention of emergency workers around the area.

    Men of the Federal and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Fire Services later arrived the scene and extinguished the fire.

    No casualty was recorded in the incident.

    The Director-General of the FCT Emergency Service, Alhaji Abass Idriss, said the fire has been brought under control.

    He said: “We suspected that the fire was caused by electrical spark. But everything is under control, the fire has been put off and the damage wasn’t much.”

     

  • Bash Ali docked for alleged criminal trespass, granted bail

    Bash Ali docked for alleged criminal trespass, granted bail

    A Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday granted N100, 000 bail to a boxer, Bashiru Ali (a.k.a.Bash Ali) docked for alleged criminal trespass.‎
    ‎
    The judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, ordered the defendant to provide one surety in like sum that must reside within the court’s jurisdiction.
    He adjourned the case till June 15 for hearing.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that the defendant was arraigned on April 3, on a four-count charge bordering on criminal trespass, intentional insult, inciting public disturbance and refusal to make statement.
    The judge had adjourned ruling on the defendant’s bail application after the defence counsel, Mr Tajudeen Adegbite, applied for his bail on self-recognition.
    ‎
    The prosecutor, Oyeyemi Adeniyi, had told the court that the defendant criminally trespassed into the office of the Honourable Minister of Sport and Youth Development, Federal Secretariat, Abuja, on April 3.
    He said the defendant forcefully entered the office without the minister’s invitation and intentionally insulted the minister.
    Adeniyi said the defendant’s action attracted crowd and disrupted the activities of the ministry before the police within the premises intervened.
    He said that the defendant refused to make statement to the police when he was arrested.
    He added that the offences contravened Sections 348, 399, 114 and 143 of the Penal Code.
    The defendant denied committing the offences.