Minister urges private sector to revive maintenance culture

THE Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, has urged the private sector to lead the drive in reviving maintenance culture in the country.

Fashola, who spoke at the event to commemorate International Facility Management Association ( IFMA) Nigeria chapter's 25th anniversary, which coincided with World Facility Management Day, in Lagos, on the theme: ‘ Leading a Sustainable Future,’ said the private sector accounts for the majority of buildings and infrastructure in Nigeria.

"It is important to mention that facility management is a very expansive area of human activity that involves a diversity of skills whose impact will remain with us for a long time," the minister said.

The minister also acknowledged the work of Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency in the proper maintenance of infrastructure in Lagos state.

The anniversary celebration had in attendance various professionals across the built industry, including real estate practitioners and facility management professionals like the General Manager, Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency, Miss. Nike Adekanbi; Managing Director, Alpha Mead Group, Femi Akintunde; Dean of Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof. Modupe Omirin and a past president of IFMA, Stephen Jagun.

In his welcome address, IFMA Nigeria President, Mr. Segun Adebayo, commended the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing under the leadership of Mr.

Babatunde Fashola for ensuring the Executive order 11 on National Public Buildings Maintenance, is enacted and implemented.

He said: "The effort of the Ministry of Works & Housing on this is a laudable achievement and has renewed our hope of providing professional attention to the country’s numerous facilities and growing infrastructure. In fact, with this feat I am delighted to say that maintenance culture has fully resurrected in our nation," the President of IFMA Nigeria said.

According to him, the theme of the event clearly validates the leadership of the association in the industry and also confirms them as a forward- thinking association. "This you can see in our endless advocacy and strategic collaborations with credible public and private institutions," he added.