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Delegates that attended the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development advised government to conduct a needs assessment to determine the design of houses required by Nigerians as well as the evolvement of new plans and policies for the implementation of social housing and public rental housing.They equally want the authorities to ensure compliance with the provisions for understudies in the expatriate quota guidelines which require that two Nigerians must be attached as understudies to every expatriate with a view to taking over from him within 10 years, after which his expatriate quota will not be renewed.

The council, in a communiqué issued at the end of its annual meeting held in Ilorin, Kwara State recently, equally noted that progress in the sector could only be achieved through the provision of free, unencumbered land for mass housing projects. The body has thus set January 1, 2017 as commencement date for the adoption of Exchange of Letters for the transfer of interest in land between Federal and state governments.

The council also requested the various tiers of government in the country to underwrite the cost of infrastructure through mortgage discount financing in partnership with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).The communiqué stated: “The relevant bodies should waive registration fees for mass housing projects, to reduce the selling prices of such houses and enhance their mortgage affordability.

Also,government at all levels should embark on sustainable training and capacity building of professionals, artisans and tradesmen in the built environment.“With a view to developing adequate capacity of professionals, artisans and tradesmen in the built environment, all tiers of government should be encouraged to revive or set up sustainable vocational training centres in the industry. Also, the attention of relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) should be drawn to ensure compliances with the provisions for understudies in the expatriate quota guidelines, which require that two Nigerians must be attached for understudies to every expatriate with a view to taking over from him within 10 years after which his expatriate quota will not be renewed.

Announcing the approval for use of the recently launched Building Efficiency Guide for Nigeria by all relevant stakeholders in the nation’s building industry, the body urged the Federal Government to commit to projects towards up scaling its urban renewal and slum upgrading programmes. The conduct of sensitization and education
programmes at different levels of government on the activities of Shelter-Afrique in order to benefit from its services was also emphasised.

They also advised government on the need for an affordable mix of housing schemes through the public private partnership initiative in the country, while Local governments and corporate bodies, which had withdrawn from the National Housing Fund (NHF) should return to facilitate their access to the fund and home renovation loans.

The communiqué stressed other issues including: A comprehensive physical development plan for the redevelopment of areas devastated by natural and man-made causes in order to improve the livability and sustainability of such areas.The review of the existing urban and regional planning laws to make them more responsive to new threats to urban lives such as crime, climate change and high energy demand.

A follow- up process to a law enforcing compliance with the provisions of the National Building Code by the National Assembly to be domesticated by the Houses of Assembly of the various states; relevant agencies that offer rebates and incentives should be requested to grant incentives for solar panels and solar hot water
systems in residential and commercial building projects;On urban development, the council approved that states and local governments be encouraged to vigorously implement the existing urban and regional planning laws.

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By definition, public properties are amenities and infrastructure put in place by the government for the common good. These infrastructure are symbolic of the social contract government has entered into with the citizens. In plain language, public properties belong to the people or a community. The people are expected to take ownership of them.

Unfortunately, this is not the case in our clime. It is ironical that Nigerians see public properties as belonging to the people in government. Citizens do not realise that the amenities are procured and put in place with their hard earned money which they have contributed as taxes to the government. To underscore this ignorance, these public utilities often become the first target of destruction in times of crisis. In the process, public buildings, street lights, parks, roads are vandalised. It is the same ignorance that drives the vandalism of national assets like pipelines.

I have always considered such actions as akin to cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face. In the estimation of vandals, they think they are hurting the government. In truth, we are all victims of their ignorance. The wide gap between the government and the people has created a distrust which fuels vandalism. This gap has bred the “they vs us” mentality that is at the heart of the ills that bedevil our country today. That is why a vandal will break a pipeline to siphon fuel. It is the same reason a citizen will damage power grid to steal cables meant to provide street lights for his neighbourhood because they think such amenities are government properties.

In the mind of these vandals, they are getting back their “share” of the national cake. They do not see the link between their tax and the public property. The destruction and wilful damage to public utilities which amount to sabotage must henceforth be viewed seriously. This destruction ranges from just knocking down a street light to vandalising a power plant. These unwholesome practices by a few unscrupulous Nigerians are at the heart of our underdevelopment as a nation.

In Lagos, I have seen this happen frequently and without a deterrent. Even when these acts of destruction are reported in the media, the reports reinforce the stereotype that the damaged or vandalised infrastructure belong to the government. For example, the alleged Lagos cable thief was said to have been caught with “Ambode street light project cable.” An impression was created that the stolen cables belonged to Governor Akinwumi Ambode. Obviously, there is the need to create awareness for Nigerians to know that these amenities belong to them. Apart from the damage being done to the government-funded infrastructure like pipelines, bridge railings and power grid, I have seen how in Lagos, public properties funded with taxpayers’ money are being damaged with impunity. One is mostly alarmed at the rate street light poles are being knocked down by reckless drivers with the culprits often getting away with such destruction.

Even the roads are being vandalised. In many cases, telecommunications companies and individuals cause damage to roads when laying optic fibre cables. In many cases, they never bother to repair the damage caused when they dig up the roads. While the people need to understand that these utilities are put in place for their own good, the government must be resolute in enforcing the laws that protect our national assets. As seen below, the law views vandalism seriously.

Under the miscellaneous provision of the Criminal Code entitled, “Wilful destruction of public property”, the law states that “any person who unlawfully or with intent to destroy or damage any public property removes, defaces or damages any public property shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction. “If the property in question is a railway line, electric power line, telephone line or a demarcation line on a public highway and the property is damaged or rendered dangerous, impassable or non-functional, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years without the option of a fine.”

Under the destruction of highway, the law also warns that “Any person, who for any purpose whatsoever, wilfully, unlawfully or maliciously causes any damage or authorises any damage to any highway and fails, refuses or neglects to repair such highway on completion of any work, if any, thereon; or (b) destroys, removes or damages any guard rail or other structure on any highway, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years without the option of a fine.”

Under the provision for damage done to or tampering with electric fittings, among others, Section 10 states that “any person who unlawfully disconnects, removes, damages, tampers, meddles with or in any way whatsoever interferes with any electric fittings, meters or other appliances used for generating, transforming, converting, conveyancing, supplying or selling electricity shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 21 years.”

From the above, one can see the position of the law is stringent on destruction of public properties. The implication of the crime is clear. We all suffer when gas pipelines are breached or when disruption is caused to oil pipelines or when power grid is sabotaged. In other countries, these are crimes that attract maximum sentences. Government must apply the laws to serve as a deterrent to the few Nigerians whose pre-occupation is to put the entire population in grief.

Most importantly, there is the need to create public awareness for Nigerians to take ownership of public properties in their domain. The message should be clear enough to drive home the implication of vandalising the infrastructure. By so doing, the people will protect or apprehend vandals when they attempt to damage or steal what belongs to the people. The civil society, National Orientation Agency and traditional institutions have a role to play in this regard. Beyond enforcing the law, there is also a need to address the growing poverty that makes Nigerians resort to desperate measures and self-help. The gap has created a situation where people see the government and everything connected to it as the enem. Bridging the gap will build trust. There must also be a hotline where people can report cases of vandalism wherever and whenever they occur. This will help the police and concerned agencies track and apprehend such vandals.

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This, she said, is to deliver quality service through effective people management and synergy at the state and local government levels.

She spoke last weekend at a sensitisation forum aimed at deepening the understanding of human resource reforms in the public service for human resource officers and council clerks, on the Centre’s premises.

Fabamwo reiterated the primacy of deepening the human resource capabilities of practitioners in the promotion of public service excellence and in broadening the capacity of government to satisfy the yearnings and expectations of citizens.

She told participants, from the 20 local governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the state, that as leaders in the third tier of government, their understanding and commitment to the human resource management reform agenda would go a long way to promote service delivery, which will ensure uniformity in people management across the board.

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The Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement, Mr. Emeka Ezeh, had said a public procurement process must follow due process, be ethical, transparent and fair.

“Honesty, accountability, transparency, fairness and equity must govern the conduct of all persons involved with public procurement, whether as an official of the bureau, as a procuring entity, a supplier, a contractor or as a service provider,” he had said.

Some of ACEN members, who spoke during the induction of new members and a seminar on ‘Enhancing the practice of engineering consultancy in Nigeria through an efficient public procurement process’, noted that the practice had been that infrastructural projects in the country would typically cost more than it would in other countries.

“Historically, the story used to be that projects in Nigeria cost many multiples per unit or kilometre of road, for example, of what they typically cost in neighbouring countries such as Ghana or Kenya,” the President, ACEN, Dr. Temilola Kehinde, said.

According to him, public procurement globally has become a system with processes, rules, standards, guidelines, benefits and penalties for infringements, adding that there should be an attempt to improve efficiency and the effectiveness of the system.

The World Bank Lead Procurement Specialist, Chief Bayo Awosemusi, said a public procurement process could only be functional if it achieved the objective of obtaining value for money, which required strategic planning, right approach to the market, sound risk management plan and evaluation criteria to determine the most advantageous bid.

He noted that with regards to the procurement of works, the engineering profession was required to be involved at every stage, and accounted for 37 per cent of the procurement cadre, hence, the need to enhance the capacity of engineering consultants in the country.

Awosemusi said, “A well-functioning procurement system in a country is critical to the timely delivery of the inputs required for the delivery of services. An efficient public procurement system is one that delivers the inputs timely and in a manner to meet specific timeliness that has been set for service delivery.

“The current Nigerian procurement process could be improved upon in areas such as addressing inadequate capacity of procurement practitioners; reducing unnecessary approval procedures, which lead to delay and do not add much value, and educating and penalising unethical behaviours.”

Awosemusi stated that the role of engineering consultants was to help the public service attain the concept of value for money in public expenditure, especially in procurement of works.

He added that to make the process of public procurement more transparent, there was a need for consultants to acquire skills in latest technologies.

According to him, complaints have been heard from local consulting firms that the public sector prefers to employ foreign consultants rather than using indigenous expertise.

“There is a strong belief among local consulting firms that the country has virtually got all expertise it needs except for very few specialised assignments involving advanced technologies. In these few specialised areas, Nigerian firms are encouraged to form joint ventures with foreign firms,” he said.

The President, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mr. Ademola Olorunfemi, said that as a specialised profession, engineering consultancy required high level of expertise acquired over a long period of practice in the various engineering disciplines

He stated that the nation was currently facing several challenges in procurement of engineering consultancies and projects, hence the need for change.

Olorunfemi said that since projects under public procurement were usually large-sized with heavy costs and prone to risks, it was necessary for those involved to have sound technical and procurement competencies to enhance the practice and reduce deficiencies to the barest minimum.

“A sound procurement consequently ensures compliance with standards thus ensuring quality at a specified cost, while avoiding overruns and delays in project completion,” he said.

He added that the NSE was a strong advocate of the general principles of public procurement such as transparency, integrity, economy, openness, fairness, competitiveness and accountability, particularly as they applied to engineering consultancies and projects.

The General Manager, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Mr. Akin Onimole, stated that it had become necessary to review the impact of public procurement on the practice of engineering in the country and strategise on how to improve on it.

According to him, the concept of public procurement was institutionalised when it became an Act of Parliament in June 2007, adding that about 22 states had passed laws, which were at various stages of implementation.

He said the Lagos States Public Procurement Agency, which was created in 2012, aimed to ensure the application of fair and competitive value for money standards and practices for the procurement and disposal of public assets and services.

Kehinde, however, noted that order was beginning to creep into a regime of blatant shadiness, riddled with graft and corruption, but that the practice of public procurement remained a work in progress.

He said, “Organised public procurement is now the law of the land. The playing field for contract administration is now level and every player should be assured of equity and transparency.

PUNCH.

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Akintunde, who spoke at the 4th edition of the Infrastructure Asset Summit Africa in Lagos, said for any infrastructure project to be sustainableit must be economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally responsible to all stakeholders.

“Most concessioned infrastructure projects in the country today are witnessing setbacks and are losing their essence because sustainability factors such as stakeholders’ engagement, facilities management and asset maintenance are relegated to the background from inception,” he said.

Akintunde spoke on: ‘Achieving sustainability in the development and management of public infrastructure through PPP concession arrangement: Case study of the Lekki Toll Road’, noting that the Lekki/Epe master plan was on course, but sustainability of the project might be at risk.

He said, “As with most other Public-Private Partnership projects in Nigeria, there are some challenges with the Lekki-Epe Expressway project, which is threatening the sustainability of the master plan. For example, there is only one road access to that axis; how would people be evacuated in cases of emergencies? For an area projected to accommodate a resident population of about 3.4 million, the road is not economically sustainable because it is prone to quicker wear and tear due to the heavy traffic it carries.

“On the other hand, we should ask ourselves why the people are resisting the tolling even when travel time on the road has reduced. It is because the government and private sector are yet to show the people the economics of the project.

“As the case stands, the government has bought the project off the private company; but we must consider the situation from the point of view of future investors in our PPP projects. Why would any private investor want to put his money in ventures that the people might resist?”

Akintunde also expressed concern that other infrastructure such as airports that were given out on concession were becoming unsustainable because the maintenance of the projects was taken for granted.

He said his fear was that if the poor maintenance culture of public infrastructure continued unabated, at the end of the concession period, mere carcasses that might be worse than what were given out to private investors would be left.

According to him, all stakeholders stand to benefit from the immense gains of PPP but each of them must be willing to play defined roles.

He added, “Rather than getting entangled with maintenance and operations, government should focus on its key role, which is regulatory. So for us to get value on our public infrastructure, government must assume that role of requesting that private sector operators include facilities management and maintenance components in their concession agreements.

“Government must also go further to ensure strict adherence and enforcement of the laid down procedure for maintenance of the infrastructure.”

PUNCH

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