Practitioners blame poor maintenance for Nigeria’s asset losses - Punch Newspapers

Nigeria’s poor maintenance culture poses a major threat to its economic prosperity, with the country losing billions of naira annually through the inadequate maintenance of public and private assets, the Association of Facilities Management Practitioners of Nigeria has said. The President of the association, Dr Olumide Aina, disclosed this at the annual conference of the association, held on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, with the theme, “Facility Management: The Backbone of Nigeria’s Prosperity.” Aina, who is also a lecturer at the Estate Management Department, University of Lagos, said the failure to integrate facility management into the planning, construction and operation of buildings had resulted in waste, avoidable expenditure and the deterioration of critical national assets. According to him, facility management involves the professional management of buildings, infrastructure, people and resources throughout the life cycle of an asset. He described facility managers as the “doctor of buildings”, saying their responsibilities covered the design, operation, maintenance, repair and eventual disposal of buildings. “Our job is to manage the built environment, the buildings and the people within the built environment. So, see us as the doctor of buildings,” Aina said.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google He explained that facility management was a multidisciplinary profession involving engineers, architects, estate managers, builders, quantity surveyors, lawyers, health and safety professionals, among others. Aina said effective facility management could help businesses reduce operational costs, improve productivity, create jobs and ensure that assets retain their value over a longer period. He warned that failure to incorporate facility management principles at the design stage could result in avoidable costs during the operation and maintenance of buildings. “For now, from the Nigerian concept, in our ministries, in the investment of the country, maintenance culture is absent; it’s not there at all. Because most people, mostly due to corruption, do not believe in maintenance,” he said. Aina said corruption was one of the factors undermining maintenance, adding that regular maintenance could prevent costly replacement and rehabilitation of deteriorating facilities. NNPC evaluates partnerships to restart Warri, P’Harcourt refineries Fiscal, monetary coordination deepens as Nigeria battles inflation AXA Mansard: Nigeria’s insurance gap leaves economy exposed to shocks “And I may not have the actual data in terms of how much that we lose annually to poor maintenance culture, but looking at things from the plethora of assets that we have in the country, it’s going to be running into billions, if not trillions,” he said. Using the National Theatre as an example, Aina said N68bn reportedly spent on its upgrade, correction, renovation and restoration could have been avoided or reduced with proper maintenance. “N68 billion can build another public building, another museum, another recreational center in the country; the fund could be integrated into the railroad, it can build several hospitals. We can all see that very clearly: poor maintenance culture is a threat to our national prosperity,” he said. The Chairman of the AFMPN Board of Trustees, Dr Tunde Ayeye, also stressed the importance of maintenance to the nation’s economic development. Ayeye, who said he had previously served as a policy adviser at the Presidency, recalled that he had raised concerns over the poor maintenance of Nigeria’s refineries and its wider economic implications. He said the deterioration of the refineries contributed to the need for imported petroleum products and the subsidy regime, with broader consequences for the economy. He added that the facilities management profession could not become a strong industry without a strong maintenance sector. “A strong facilities management industry cannot exist without a strong maintenance industry. The foundation of facilities management is that you have a strong maintenance foundation,” he said. In his keynote address, a Professor of Facilities Management and practitioner based in Canada, Prof Adefemi Adejumo, said prosperity was not merely something to be created but something that had to be sustained. He urged stakeholders to focus on “building, maintaining and sustaining” assets, saying most of a building’s economic life occurs after its development. Taiwo Bankole

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Stay informed and ahead of the curve! Follow The Punch Newspaper on WhatsApp for real-time updates, breaking news, and exclusive content. Don't miss a headline – join now!

Stay in the know—fast. Get instant alerts, breaking headlines, and exclusive stories with the Punch News App. Download now and never miss a beat.