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Tag: structure

  • Old Girls to build new structure for school

    The Methodist Girls High School Old Girls Association (MGHSOGA), Yaba, Lagos will build a new structure befitting the school.

    A statement by the president of the association Mrs. Yomi Afolabi said the time has come for the old to give way to the new.

    She said: “The old structure will be pulled down for the construction of the new building to start. We thank God that no life was lost since the old structure was set up many years back.

    “Though we have memories of the old building, but it has to go because we are building modern facilities here. We are proud to have received undiluted training and nurturing in the hands of great teachers. Indeed, the old order changes, giving way to new building.”

    Head of the Media Team Mrs. Tinu Odugbemi noted that the association discovered two years ago that the centenary block of the school had some structural defects.

    “The centenary block is almost 140 years old. So, it is really an old building and the students have been moved out for safety. Already, each set has been asked to contribute N5 million and the target is to raise N100 million from the Old Girls’ Association”.

    Vice-President of the Fundraising Committee Mrs. Adetola Ola, who is of the 79/84 set, said she was proud to be a product of the school, saying the values she got from the school really influenced her life.

  • Dissecting Nigeria’s federal structure

    Dissecting Nigeria’s federal structure

    A recent public lecture organised by the Yoruba Tennis Club under the theme ‘Federalism: Myth or Reality – The Nigerian Experience’ brought together scholars, elder statesmen, traditional rulers and many Nigerians that are worried about the way the country has been drifting in recent times. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI was at the event. 

    After decrying the weak foundation on which the Nigerian federal system of government is built and the relationship between the centre and the so-called federating units, a one-time Director-General of the Nigerian Law School, Dr. Kole Abayomi, has called for fundamental changes in the constitution, to make the county the ideal federation envisaged by its founding fathers.

    Abayomi who made the remark in a public lecture he delivered at the Yoruba Tennis Club, Lagos, recently said his ideal concept of federalism is one where the power of centre and the federating units are equal and coordinate, with certain functions such as foreign affairs, security and currency surrounded to the former.

    He said: “Power must be shared in such a manner, so as not to make the units weak and the centre too powerful. Nigeria practices a unitary system of government disguised as federalism and most of the states are not viable.”

    In the preamble to the lecture titled Federalism: Myth or Reality – The Nigerian Experience, the former Director-General said at independence in 1960 the country had three regions that were working very well. He said the defunct Midwest State was created to satisfy the clamour for minority interest.

    He added: “Today, Nigeria has 36 states and most of them are not viable economically and financially; they depend on the support of the Federal Government. They go cap in hands every month, begging for funds. That to me is an insult in federalism. It is understandable if the Federal Government steps in when you have a natural disaster, but what is obtainable today is that the states virtually depend on the centre to survive.”

    Abayomi said it is unfortunate that many states cannot pay salaries today and the Federal Government had to step in, by giving them bailouts. From this arrangement, he said the country is gradually moving from a federal system of government to a unitary system.

    Abayomidiscussed three provisions of the constitution extensively: the Presidential System of Government, Federal Character and presidential appointments. He confessed that though elder statesman, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, and himself were members of the committee that recommended the presidential system to the country prior to the Second Republic, but he is fed up with it.

    He said: “The Westminster model is still the best. A revert to this system of government will do us some do; it is less expensive. Alhaji Okunnu and I ignorantly supported the change from the parliamentary system to the presidential system. We adopted a foreign phenomenon without understanding what made it work in America. To me, the system is very expensive and festers corruption, because there are many more mouths to seal.”

    The lecturer said the principle of Federal Character was introduced as a laudable idea to make appointments balanced, to assist states that are backward. He said in some cases, it has become an instrument of promoting nepotism. “Though very laudable, the principle of Federal Character is not justiciable, because there are other provisions that are not consistent with it,” he added.

    On appointments, Dr. Abayomi said the constitution empowers the President to appoint principal officers of his kitchen cabinet as he deems fit. He said President Muhammadu Buhari probably appointed almost all members of his security team from a particular ethnic group, because of the issue of trust.

    He said it is unfortunate that people first identify themselves as belonging to their ethnic groups, regions and religions, before seeing themselves as Nigerians.

    The legal luminary also frowned at a situation where people from certain states are giving quit notices to Nigerians from other parts of the country to vacate their states or face the consequences, saying in an ideal federal set up, people are free to live and work in any part of the country they wish. He said because of tribal and religious sentiments, life is no longer safe in Nigeria.

    He said until Nigerians awakened national zeal and national consciousness, by emphasizing those things that unite them, rather than the ones that divide them, they will not realize the change they desire. His words: “We must develop a culture of nationalism; without that, no other change can carry us anywhere. We must never admit that anybody from anywhere is superior to us. Nigerians should be free to live in any part of the country. We must insert these principles in our constitution.”

    Abayomi advocated for devolution of powers, saying the current 36-state structure is uinwieldy and wrong. He said: “I would advocate for devolution of powers to the states. The six geo-political zones should be used as federating units. During the First Republic, the regions had powers and such powers were used to develop various parts of the country.

    “There should be fiscal and economic restructuring; the current system is retrogressive. But would the political elite who are feeding fat from the current system allow us to effect the change?”

    Two discussants made contributions on the subject, after Dr. Abayomi’s presentation. They are: former Federal Permanent Secretary, Dr. Olayiwola Ogunbambi, and legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, Mr. Dele Farotimi. Ogunbambi said: “The problem is not about devolution of powers, but the fact of the matter is that the states are too many, too unwieldy and unviable, to be able to compete with the Federal Government. This is coupled with the escalating cost of governance.”

    The former Permanent Secretary said the states are not the federating units, because for convenience the military merely created centres of command, in consonance with their traditional command structure. He added: “To qualify to be called federating units presupposes that they have existed independently on their own, like the Greek City States, before the emergence of the federation.”

    Ogunbambi said as a first step towards going back true federalism, Nigerians must create a people’s constitution. He said the National Assembly would be compounding the problem, if lawmakers believe that with their periodic constitutional amendments of the 1999 Constitution that they are helping matters.

    He added: “Our lawmakers are too selfish, too myopic and too fixated on the 2019 general elections to give Nigerians a constitution that would address the issues on ground. I don’t know whether the narrative about restructuring is the path to progress. We must revisit the whole concept of constitution making.”

    Before he started his contribution, Farotimi apologized to the elders in the audience, because he was going to say may not go down well with them. He said Nigeria was built on a quicksand and that there are a lot of dreamers who continue to believe in a country that is designed to fail.

    His words: “We have a lot of dreamers in Nigeria. My father’s generation built the country on lies. When we talk at this stage whether Nigeria is a federal state or not, we are not being realistic. The Federal Republic of Nigeria died in 1966. The second coup of 1966 destroyed Nigeria.”

    He said though the young idealists who executed the first coup committed a grave error when they assassinated leading politicians in the defunct Northern and the Western Region, but it was the second coup that destroyed the foundation on which the country built.

    The legal practitioner said today Nigeria is a country with multiple levels of citizenship, as a result of the second coup. He added: “Every system operates on a design and it produces what it is programmed to produce, which in this case is corruption.”

    Farotimi who was also a former student union leader said before independence some wisemen came together and agreed a federal structure and a parliamentary system of government was best suited for the country. But decades of military rule, he said, destroyed everything.

    He believes that the hegemony of those that have kept Nigeria down is coming to an end, with events that are being witnessed in the country in recent times. He added: “Whether we like it or not, at some point, we are going to be forced to have the discussion that we have been running away from.”

    In his remarks, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, who was the special guest of honour, commended the Yoruba Tennis Club. He said the club is concerned about Nigeria’s progress and that it should not relent.

    The monarch said Federal Character is good, “but it should not be at the expense of people’s safety and security.” He said even though the country wants to achieve equality of states, there should be fiscal federalism, so that all states can develop at their own pace.

    On his part, Alhaji Okunnu, who was the moderator, argued that Nigeria’s federalism died in 1979, when a new constitution institutionalized the unitary system that was introduced by the military. He said the 1979 Constitution spoke from two sides of the mouth on local government, by making it a federal matter, under the guise of giving it autonomy.

  • Of culture and structure

    Of culture and structure

    In chapter three of his classic, ‘Class, Ethnicity and Democracy in Nigeria’, which focuses on the failure of Nigeria’s first republic but has enduring lessons for the country’s contemporary politics, Professor Larry Diamond opens with quotes from two of the country’s nationalist leaders that are relevant to current debates on constitutional re-engineering or restructuring of Nigeria. The first is an excerpt from Dr. Nnmadi Azikiwe’s inaugural address as Governor-General of Nigeria in 1960. In Azikwe’s words then “Parliamentary government has been attempted in Nigeria and we have proved more than equal to the task…What remains for us to do now is to dedicate our lives anew to the fascinating task of nation building. The past is gone with all its bitterness and rancor and recriminations. The future is before us and great events await the leadership of the wise and brave”. Dr Azikwe’s statement reflects a confidence in both the parliamentary and possibly the regional structure of the time. But we cannot overlook his emphasis on the leadership of the ‘wise and brave’. That is not a function of structure but culture.

    The second quote by Professor Diamond is by Chief Obafemi Awolowo at a speech delivered to the Seventh Congress of the Action Group on 19th September 1960. In the words of Awo “It is imperative…that the parties in power for the time being should…faithfully adhere to the principles and practice of liberal democracy. If by any unfortunate mischance or deliberate premeditation, democracy and the rule of law were murdered, stifled or repressed, reason and moderation would of necessity cease to rule the hearts of many a well-meaning and devoted Nigerian”.

    This column is still firm in the view that our challenges are larger in our attitudes and values than our political structures and constitutional orientation. Dr Azikwe’s quote above demonstrates a fervent belief in the virtues of parliamentary and liberal democracy. He was right. The structures were excellent. But Awo from the quote above was more focused on the behavioral attitudes of the leadership. At the end of the day it was this negative mindset that spurred the abandonment of  ‘reason and moderation’ that Awolowo warned about.

    In his latest book covering about 320 pages, twelve chapters and five informative appendices, titled ‘Nigerian Law on Socio-Economic rights’ Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) offers in my view insights on how the present constitution can be exploited to advance the cause of the underprivileged and dispossessed in Nigeria. It is not impossible that the distinguished senior advocate may not agree with my reading of his work. But that book, which I intend to take a more detailed look at later in this column, offers revealing perspectives on both the strengths and weaknessesd of the extant constitution. In my view, Mr. Falana’s book should have been more appropriately entitled ‘A Political Economy of the Nigerian Constitution’.Incidentally a section in professors Toyin Falola and Julius Ihonvbere’s book on‘The Rise and Fall of Nigeria’s Second Republic’ focuses on  the political economy of the 1979 constitution. Unfortunately, in dismissing the 1999 constitution, many analysts including some of our most profound legal minds appear to be completely oblivious of its political and legal antecedents.

    What Mr. Falana’s book demonstrates is that socio economic rights can be effectively pursued within the existing constitutional framework. Of course, the renowned human rights lawyer is nobody’s apologist. He should be as opposed to the present constitutional order as anybody. Falana suffered along with Gani Fawehinmi  of blessed memory and others in the military gulag. But his book convinces me more than ever that a lot of good can still be done under the present constitution to promote the public good in the interest of the greatest happiness of the greatest number of the people.

    Let me return to Professor Larry Diamond’s book again on the intricate relations between culture and structure in Nigerian politics. In his difficult to fault words “The repression, violence and fanaticism of political competition in the 1950s signified – despite elite protestations to the contrary – a weak commitment to democratic values in Nigeria”. Can we confidently and honestly say that there is any stronger commitment to democratic values in Nigeria today? If the resort to the presidential system, contrary to expectations, did not change our value orientation as a people, will a regression to the parliamentary system and regionalism do the magic? This cannot be anything but wishful thinking.

    For those fixated on a return to the past, let me quote again a studied and dispassionate scholar on Nigerian Politics, Professor Diamond, “Constitutionally, Nigeria had a federal structure at Independence, but it was a structure fraught with tensions and contradictions. The number, size and boundaries of the Regions gave rise to several interrelated difficulties”.The creation of states may have been abused under military rule particularly under the Babangida and Abacha regimes, but it was still a development that advanced federalism in Nigeria. How many states will be willing today to be collapsed in a regional structure romantically and unrealistically advocated by a few? The viewpoint of this column remains consistent. A change in structure without a transformation of values will yield no positive result.

  • Wage structure needs review, says Obi of Onitsha

    Wage structure needs review, says Obi of Onitsha

    The Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe, has said workers’ wage and salary structure should be reviewed to stop professionals from leaving the country.

    Achebe  said it was a tragedy for members of the political elite to determine their wage structure, while workers in the country cannot.

    He said this at the 36th convocation of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN), which held in Ijanikin, Lagos.

    According to him, Nigerian doctors. after getting their training locally, become expatriates in various countries, which reveals the shortcoming of wages and infrastructural systems in the country.

    “Doctors should be well rewarded as they are special due to what they do and it was this realisation that stopped me from studying medicine, though I was admitted to study it, but I went for chemistry,”he said.

    He said though traditional rulers voices were getting smaller, he would do something about the situation by talking to the authorities.

    The college President, Prof. Ademola Olaitan, said though doctors going abroad was pathetic, there was nothing that could be done as they (doctors) have to feed themselves and work in conducive environments.

    He said: “Part of the mandate of the college is to prevent human capital flight in the medical sector, which we have succeeded in doing by convoking 387 fellows this year, aside those convoked in previous years and saving the nation, millions of dollars.”

    He said it was a shame that industrial action is the only language government listens to.

    “Industrial actions are not encouraged as it disrupts work and placements by doctors into various teaching hospitals which does not allow for fulfillment of the prescribed minimum period of clinical placements and rotations that qualified them for examinations,” he said.

    Olaitan urged the government to reconstitute the Board of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) as the body had operated without a council for the past two years when the board was dissolved. He noted that reconstitution will allow the council to perform its statutory functions, which are crucial to the smooth running of medical services.

    The guest speaker, Prof Obiora Onuba, who spoke on the theme: “Medical Management of Terrorist Bombing of Nigerian Civilians;” Lessons to Learn”,  said doctors must have training in treating victims of terrorist acts as only a few doctors have experience in a true mass casualty attack.

  • Sustainability, structure and leadership

    I attended  the 90th  birthday   ceremonies  of a quiet  but great Nigerian at Ile  Ife  and  Lagos and what I learnt at a unique birthday event  is what I want  to share  with the public  at large today and that is what has dictated  the topic  in this column. The  celebrant is Chief Iyiola Omisore, a  structural  engineer and doyen of  engineering in Nigeria and I went to Ife in the company of his relation, the debonair and calmly dignified business  mogul  and   barrister  at law,  Chief  Alex  Duduyemi, the Aro  and Asiwaju of Ife.

    Let  me state  clearly  here that at  Ife  I saw how a community  shows  appreciation and gratitude for services rendered  selflessly, to one of its own in the  large   turn out    of    people  at both the  church service  and the reception to  mark this birthday. At   the  Church  service  there  were  about  30  Obas  wearing  their  crowns  and they  were  led by  the Oni  of  Ife himself  Oba Enitan Ogunwusi. The  Oni,   whose royal stool is the pride of Yoruba race was in the church  service  as well  as the reception  where in a rare   but very   royal    mixture  of youth and age,  he,   in silent  dignity   sat   by the side  of the 90 year  old celebrant.  I  confess  to being carried  away by the spectacle  which  I still  recall  with great pleasure and crave indulgence   and   understanding   of   any trait  or accusation  of exaggeration  or   hyperbole. This is because in a society where the traditional  society and modern polity  are always at each  others  neck, and at a weekend where in Ibadan 20  Obas  were being installed  and the Olubadan stayed away , one can  be excused at being  so fascinated  by the beautiful sight of the foremost  Yoruba Oba, the Oni leading  a huge show of communal   gratitude to an  illustrious  son of  the land  Chief  Iyiola Omisore  at his 90th  Birthday reception.

    However,   it was the birthday   symposium at  the prestigious  Yoruba Tennis Club in Onikan  Lagos  that  I got  the meat  or ammunition for  today’s  topic. The  title of the symposium was  ‘Sustainability    in  a built  –  environment, the Nigerian  perspective’,  and it was a very educative and intellectually rewarding event,   not  in terms of the usual academic rhetoric but in terms of practical  suggestions  to move the Nigerian society forward   on  infrastructure  and improved  quality of life  which is the kernel  of the concept  of  sustainability in the first instance. Obviously  the choice  of sustainability  in the built  environment  came from the fact that the celebrant is a structural  engineer  who  felt  that education matters in developing the Nigerian  environment  as demonstrated  by his own life.  He  had  grade  one for his school  certificate  and he won  a prize  of five guineas for being the best student  at his school  abroad  in   England and was given  the  prize by  the city’s Mayor  at a civic reception.

    The  Chairman  of the occasion was the law guru Alhaji  Femi  Okunnu, also  Chairman of the Board  of Trustees of the YTC, whose  current Chairman  Professor Tokunbo  Fabanwo ,was the host. The  discussants were Professor  Ibidapo  Obe, former Unilag  VC, Professor Peter Okebukola   former  Executive  Secretary NUC, and Ayodele  Aderinwale, Deputy Coordinator  of the Obasanjo Presidential  Library.  Setting the ball  rolling was Professor Fabanwo who asked  the non  professor  amongst  the discussants  Aderinwale to  seek  a professorship in a humorous but pedantic manner to a huge applause. I  will  proceed now  to  what  the discussants said in brief and comment  on these.

    Professor  Ibidapo  Obe spoke  on the theme – Rome  was  not built in a day –  and that really  captured the  essence of the topic  as he illustrated  with the way  the ancient  Romans built facilities that endured and were tailored to enable Rome  to attack it enemies  while providing security  for   its   citizens. He  also   analysed  the  topic  in terms of the hope of continuous improvement with regard  to set  tasks  till  the set goals and objectives  are achieved  and  stressed that education  matters in  all  human endeavors. Professor  Okebukola  insisted that all  that needs to be done to make education improve the lot of the Nigerian  society have  been made  available in different resolutions and papers on education such that he has refused to take on proposals for such projects again. He  cited surveys that showed  that the standard of education  has fallen   generally  in  Nigeria. He called  up his former school mate at Remo  Secondary  School, Otunba  Ladi  Solanke  who he said was the best student in Arts during their HSC and  noted  that if he had represented the NUC  as  the lawyer    as he did  during his time there  would be no  ASUU  strike  like  the on going one that has paralysed  the Nigerian university  system. The  third  discussant   Aderinwale  identified leadership as the bane of the quest  to achieve sustainability in the built environment  in the Nigerian  context. He  lamented  the poor state and dilapidation of our cities as well  as the shame  and insecurity  of  the  numerous slums and shanties  all over Nigeria.

    In  rounding up, the Chairman of the occasion and  former  Federal  Works  Minister  Alhaji  Okunnu  also identified  ethnicity  as a major  obstacle  to  the achievement  of sustainability in a built  environment. He  lamented the absence  of a Nigerian leader  and gave the historical example of former President Nnamdi  Azikiwe  an  Igbo, born in Zungeru  and who  was elected  as the First  Lagos  member for Lagos, a Yoruba city  as the prime example   of a non ethnic  and Nigerian leadership  that has since eluded  our political  system  now  convulsed  by tribalism  and ethnicity  making sustainability  in a built environment difficult. Really  as a former Federal  Works  Minister  and as a  foremost  lawyer Alhaji  Okunnu is well placed to know where the shoe  pinches on sustainability  and stated that  education under our constitution is  a state  matter  and has been usurped by the federal  government even with regard to his alma mater, his beloved Kings  College. I  know that if he had time Alhaji  Okunnu  would  have dwelt on land matters  and castigated the   take  over of some sea shore  land in Lagos  state by the federal  government   as well   as  the high  emoluments of our law makers,   and he would have linked both as  obstacles  to the attainment   of   sustainability in a built  environment and he would be right.

    With  regard  to the non  professor’s submissions on lack  of leadership  I found his presentation quite professorial  and educative. But  since  he hailed  professionally  from the Obasanjo  Leadership  Forum  and  is now  Deputy  Coordinator  at  the Obasanjo  Presidential  Library, he  should be  reminded of the saying that – we  have seen  the enemy  and the enemy  is us. Which means that on leadership, charity  should begin at  home at the heart of Abeokuta where the beautiful Obasanjo  Presidential  Library  is located. Again  on the issue of the absence  of a Nigerian leader,    as claimed  by Alhaji  Okunnu, I beg  to disagree as I think  former President Olusegun  Obasanjo  would fit that  bill  or vacancy easily. That  was  what   his  pal    former General    Theophilus    Danjuma  was saying when,   before the 1999  presidential campaign he vowed that if  Obasanjo  lost  the presidential   election,   he   –   Danjuma -would leave  Nigeria because  Obasanjo  was  so  Nigerian, his people  the Yorubas  hated him ,  which also  was cruelly  but debatably true. Once  again, happy  birthday to Pa  Omisore at 90  and long live the Federal  Republic  of Nigeria.

  • Bayelsa PDP vows to resist hijack of party structure 

    The Bayelsa State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at the weekend, vowed to stop attempts by some of its estranged members to hijack the party’s structure ahead of the 2019 general election.

    Speaking after the PDP’s State Executive Committee (SEC) meeting in Yenagoa, Chairman of the party Mr. Cleopas Moses insisted PDP would not be used as a platform by “anti-democratic forces” to impose their candidates on the party.

    He said political jobbers and miscreants jostling to take over the party should look elsewhere.

    Moses hailed the National Chairman, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, for not dissolving the state’s executive despite pressure on him by some elements  to do so.

    He maintained that the party in the state is strong and united, assuring the national caretaker committee of victory in the state.

    He said: “Those  pushing for dissolution of the state exco were the same people that tried but to no avail to use the defunct Transformation Ambassador of Nigeria (TAN) to detribalise the state in the wake of the 2015 election.

    ”Having failed to stop the re-election of the governor in 2016 , the same characters have regrouped to undemocratically take over Bayelsa State party structure ahead of 2019 with the aim of foisting Governor Seriake Dickson’s successor on PDP executives.

    “Their plans will fail and they shall be resisted by this exco. These anti-democratic forces calculating to hijack state structure to crudely impose candidates of their choice, including the PDP governorship candidate, on the party shall be resisted by the real PDP family.”

    Moses also reaffirmed the party’s support for the restoration government of Dickson and praised the governor for his achievements in the state.

  • Lekki Gardens unveils new structure

    Lekki Gardens unveils new structure

    After six months of strategic appraisal of its operations, Lekki Gardens Estate Limited has engaged the services of top-notch consultants and contractors in the construction value chain to oversee its construction across its project sites, and to ensure delivery of quality and affordable housing to its client.

    Its Managing Director/Chief Excutive Officer (CEO), Richard Nyong, said the company embarked on strategic overhauling to enable it deliver better housing.

    “In the last six months, we have taken time to review and strengthen our technical structure; today, Lekki Gardens now boasts of a solid technical team with qualified and experienced professionals to deliver a world-class housing experience to our clients.

    “We also now work with the ‘best in class’ among building and construction consultants and contractors in Nigeria,” he said.

    Nyong announced the appointment of Andrew Jibunor, a building and construction expert, whose professional career spans over two decades as the Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for Lekki Gardens, adding that the company had made key appointments in other departments of the company, as well.

    He explained that while work had started on some of Lekki Gardens’ sites, construction would commence fully by the end of the month. He appealed to the firm’s clients for understanding, saying the delay in delivery of their houses was caused by the restructuring aimed at delivering world-class quality housing.

    While assuring clients and stakeholders in the company of the safety of their investment, as well as its value appreciation in spite of the economic downtown, Nyong pointed out that despite the temporary setback, the company remains economically viable and liquid without any form of indebtedness to any bank. He revealed that the accounts of the company have been audited and certified satisfactory by Ernst &Young, a global auditing firm.

    Jibunor listed part of the restructuring to include Quality Management, Planning  and Coordination, as well as Health, Environment and Safety checks, saying this was in line with global best practices.

    His words: “In line with the mandate of the technical team, we are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring best quality standards at every stage of the building process. Our new process ensures that every project passes through a more rigorous procedure of monitoring, supervision and approval to ensure that we deliver a unique housing experience for our clients.”

    He said the new technical team had introduced a new health, safety and environment regime,  stressing it is mandatory for all Lekki Gardens facilities, workers and contractors, saying that this had incorporated the implementation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Signages, training and deployment of safety representatives/officers across sites as well as safety induction for  visitors.

    In ensuring a technically sound building and construction, he added that the technical team has carried out a condition survey for sites, building and structures to ensure the quality of work in terms of existing design information appraisal, visual appraisals and inspections as well as other appraisals like soil tests/CPT, NDT, pile loads, perimeter survey, confirmation of topographical and spot levels and mechanical and electrical installation and integrity tests.

    Jibunor added that the new technical team has integrated the use of information technology in their systems with the introduction of the Builders’Trend to provide a bird’s eye-view of their projects on one mobile platform for stakeholders. The builders’ trend communication platform equips the company’s stakeholders, marketers and subscribers, with the tracking mode and follow-ups as well as updates on ongoing projects.

    Earlier, the Lagos State government had unsealed the construction sites belonging to Lekki Gardens. However, the firm opted to delay its recommencement of work until it was able to conduct a self-appraisal by taking a cursory look at  its projects, revisiting technical details, such as soil test, building designs and fixing any identified issues to ensure better housing delivery.

  • Senate summons Kachikwu over NNPC’s structure

    Senate summons Kachikwu over NNPC’s structure

    The Senate yesterday invited the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, over the announced unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

    He is to appear today at the joint session of the Senate Committees on Petroleum (Down and Upstream and Gas.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) Senator Tayo Alasoadura who endorsed the letter of invitation, said they were “shocked” and “in disbelief” over the announcement  unbundling the Corporation.

    The letter read in part, “Shocked by the announcement in disbelief, three committees overseeing the industry wish to invite the Minister to appear before them to brief them of this critical decision in a meeting schedule Thursday.”

    Alasoadura said the action was taken “without recourse to the Act establishing the NNPC and approval by the Senate of Nigeria.”

    Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume also told reporters in Abuja that the announcement of the unbundling of the Corporation has generated issues that the Senate is looking into.

  • ‘I won’t pay with new structure’

    ‘I won’t pay with new structure’

    Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi has said he will not implement the new salary structure in paying workers because according to him, it gave a seven per cent increment to junior workers and 125 per cent to the senior workers.

    Workers had been on seven days warning strike to demand payment with the new salary structure.

    Governor Umahi spoke at the weekend while inaugurating 15 heavy-duty trucks procured for infrastructural development.

    He acknowledged the bulletin by the organised labour calling for the strike, saying he could not stop them.

    “I saw the bulletin circulated by the organised labour and I cannot stop them from going on strike. But I want them to know very well that we will not implement their demand, we will not do that.

    “I will continue to pay them with the salary structure recommended by the Sam Egwu-led committee until the next two months when an acceptable chart will be out.”

    Umahi expressed shock that the workers went on strike without considering the economic situation, insisting he could not use the money meant to develop the state to pay workers’ salaries.

  • Oando downstream explains new structure

    Oando downstream explains new structure

    Oando Plc has said the ownership structure of the new Oando downstream businesses will be 49 per cent for Oando, 49 per cent for HV Investments and two per cent for Nigerian Helios affiliate.

    The Head, Corporate Communications, Oando Plc, Ainoije ‘Alex’ Irune said in a statement that it has become imperative to clarify the ownership structure of the strategic partnership between Oando, Vitol and Helios following varied reports on the ownership structure.

    He said: “Oando, an integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Nigeria, has entered into an agreement with HV Investments II B.V., (HVI), a joint venture owned by a fund advised by Helios Investment Partners (Helios) and The Vitol Group (Vitol), for a cash investment of US$276.8 million in Oando’s downstream business.

    “The post-investment 100 per cent ownership structure is reflected in the voting rights below: Oando Plc will hold 49 per cent, HV Investments will hold 49 per cent, and a Nigerian Helios Affiliate will hold two per cent.

    “This unique partnership will allow for accelerated expansion and increased investment for Oando Downstream within the sector, whilst the organisation’s management structure will remain unchanged, and directors instituted to the Board to represent Vitol and Helios.

    “Yomi Awobokun will continue as Chief Executive Officer, Oando Downstream, and Oando Plc Group Chief Executive, Wale Tinubu, will maintain his position as Chairman of the Board.

    “This transaction is testament to Oando’s indigenous commitment to building the downstream sector. Furthermore, this tri-partied alliance is poised to bring investment to the sector and further expand Oando Downstream’s operations whilst assuring business continuity.”