Experts seek facility maintenance law at IFMA awards

IFMA members have been charged to fashion out a legislation to regulate the practice of facility management and ensure public and private institutions as well as individuals to embrace maintenance culture.

FACILITY managers in Nigeria have been urged to canvass for a legislation that would compel public and private institutions as well as individuals to embrace maintenance culture.

Experts made the call at the 2015 Facility Management Award Dinner organised in Lagos by the Nigerian chapter of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) at the weekend.

The Managing Partner SIAO Managing Consulting, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, who was chairman said that Nigeria deserved a well-maintained environment.

Ighodalo, who is also the Pastor of Trinity House, Lagos, said the legislation would demand that qualified professionals would be tasked with the responsibilities of facility maintenance.

He then urged IFMA Nigeria to ensure that the proposed law included provisions that would require “everybody that is involved in facility management to compulsory go through this association and qualify to be a facility manager so that it will save us from the trouble of all manner of people claiming to be facility managers.”

The guest lecturer, and Managing Director, Alpha Mead Facilities Management, Mr Femi Akintunde, said that Nigeria would not be developed to the expected level if it continued to build structures without paying attention to maintenance.

He said that maintenance culture must be promoted whether or not the country experienced economic boom. “We must give consideration to the life cycle of those facilities, otherwise the money we spend will not translate to real value,” he admonished.

IFMA Nigeria President, Mr. Richard Olatunji Okesola assured that members of the association were ready to offer their unique skills and expertise and help to redirect Nigeria’s path towards economic recovery. “Our services are inevitable in the pursuance of this desirable goal,” he further said.

On the night, awards were presented in 15 categories. They included Best Managed Residential Facility, which was won by Bella Vista Towers, Best Managed Office Facility (Bank of Industry, Abuja), Best Managed Industrial Facility (Nigerite Plc, Ikeja), Best Managed Retail Facility (Spar Lekki), and Best Managed Hospitality Facility (Oriental Hotel, Lekki).

Winners also included Best Manager Events Facility (Eko Conventional Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos), Best Managed Healthcare Facility (Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja), Best Managed Educational Facility (Corona School, Victoria Island), and Corporate Membership Award (Zebrapath Technical Resources Limited). The others were: Best Facility Management Partner (Provast Limited), Best Public Stakeholder (Lagos State Infrastructure Asset Management Agency), Best Individual IFMA Nigeria Member (Tayo Oyelaja), IFMA Nigeria Honours (Jon Martens), Best Graduating Masters Student (Tolulope Rachael Olaleye) and Media Partner (Leap Communications).

Earlier in the day, stakeholders in the facility management sector had spoken in favour of global best practice, describing it as a sure way to boost businesses.

In the session chaired by Professor Timothy Nubi of the University of Lagos, Dr (Mrs) Hiqmat Koleoso, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, said that those who were engaged in property management referred to their practice as facility management. She explained that facility management was strategic in nature as it focused more on performance measurement.

Mrs Erejuwa Gbadebo, Managing Director, Clutton lamented that facility management in Nigeria comes at the end of the cycle, whereas it should be activated right from the very start.

Chief Inspector of the Federation, Nigeria Electricity Management Agency, Mr Peter Ewesor expressed the hope that the unbundling of the power sector would lead to continued improvement in supply, which would contribute largely to the maintenance of infrastructure.

IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognised international association for professional facility managers.