FEC approves 4 new private varsities

…Approves national public building maintenance frameworks

…Approves N800m for Mambilla land demarcation

…Okays $9m for Escravos-Lagos gas pipeline

The first Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the year was held, on Wednesday, and presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The meeting made some sterling decisions among which was the approval for the establishment of four new private universities.

Minister of Education Adamu Adamu, who briefed State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting said, the new universities are Greenfield University Kaduna, Dominion University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Trinity University,  Ogun State and Westland University in Iwo, Osun State.

He explained that the approvals were granted after all the four universities had met the requirements for establishments,  submitted their academic briefs, master plan and evidence of facilities following visitation by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

The latest approvals bring the total number of private universities in the country to 73.

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Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, on his part, said the Council approved the contract for the procurement and installation of the second phase of Controller–pilot data link communications for the Kano flight information region.

Controller–pilot data link communications also referred to as controller pilot data link, is a method by which air traffic controllers can communicate with pilots over a datalink system.

He explained that within the Kano flight information region is Abuja and Lagos airports. The total contract sum is $5,403,271 which is equivalent to N1,652,320,271.80 exclusive of five percent VAT. The contract is to Nigeria Airspace Management Agency.

Sirika said when completed, it will improve communication by digital means between the pilot and the controller, improve efficiency, make decision making faster and make departures and arrival seamless and faster.

The Council also approved the first contract of over N800 million, for demarcation of specific area of land for the project, leading to enumeration and resettlement preparatory to construction of the Mambilla Hydro Power Project, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) said.

He said nine solid firms already have jobs by the award of the contract.

He said Mambilla will consume 18million bags of cements, 22,500 trucks will be needed.

According to him, “Apart from the mining jobs, you need to transport them and you are looking at 900,000 trucks, 42,000 tones of steels that will be required to build this. You can see the economic impact of Mambilla.”

Fashola said the Council also approved a new maintenance policy that will drive maintenance culture in Nigeria.

The new policy, known as the ‘National Public building maintenance frameworks’, Fashola, said it is a precursor to the development of a “maintenance economy” aimed at providing jobs for millions of the nation’s teeming youths currently unemployed across the country

He disclosed that his Ministry is also working towards developing a framework for maintenance of other government assets including roads, bridges and oil assets, across the country.

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“We have never developed this type of maintenance economy which we are creating today.

“With what we have done now, we have started with a National pilot plan for inventory of our national assets and a maintenance procurement manual which will be made available to all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, nationwide,” he said.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, said Council approved two memos from the Ministry of Petroleum. “One was an EPCI contract which is Engineering Procurement Construction and Installation contract for the 12 inch by six inch Opoho Okoho flexible pipelines in OML 119 which is awarded to messrs National Oil Verco completion and MELCURT Nigeria Ltd. It is a consortium of two companies.

“The total contract sum was $3.7 billion. The essence of this was that in 2014, the pipeline with which we were evacuating crude in that area gave way and so production became very marginal, we were operating average of about twenty thousand barrels a day as against about 37 to 40,000 barrels and this contract was therefore to replace that pipeline with a new technological flexible pipeline.

“The last pipeline lasted for only 50 years a lot of corrosive environment in which they operated. It is a nine month contract, when completed we will be able to get back production to 40,000 barrels per day. It is very critical and will generate close to $270 million per annum. So, it is very important.

“The second approval was on the Escravos to Lagos gas pipeline phase one for additional unforeseen works in engineering, contract had been given in 2008 and it was about 83 percent complete but additional scope has been added to that pipeline and variation of about $9 million was approved today (Wednesday) added to the previous amount which was about N5 billion and $177 one million. With the $9 million added today, the new contract figure comes to about $5,186 billion. That pipeline is so critical; it is what helps us move stranded gas out of the Escravos of Oghara region back into the Escravos Lagos pipeline. It is two months contract.”