… As Nigeria, S/Arabia agree to boost trade, investment, economic cooperation***
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has stressed the need for transparency and accountability in procurement processes for the overall growth of the nation.
The vice president made the call at the launch of the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement(SPESSE) Project, a World Bank Assisted Project in Abuja on Thursday.
Osinbajo, who noted that procurement touched on every sector of the economy, stressed that a huge amount of financial resources often went into procurement, thereby encouraging some form of financial waste.
“The procurement system must be strengthened by entrenching transparency and accountability at all levels of government.
“Issues relating to construction, rehabilitation and extension of existing buildings, acquisition and development of lands, purchase of laboratory equipment, disposal of reagent and samples from sick people and animals, amongst others must conform with world standards.
“To achieve these, there is an absolute need to build the adequate technical capacity required for efficient and effective procurement, environmental and social safeguard systems,” he said.
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He expressed optimism that investment in the SPESSE project would help institutionalise the practice of procurement, environmental and social standards in Nigeria.
The vice president disclosed that the SPESSE project was in line with the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government, aimed at restoring growth, investing in people and building a globally competitive economy.
He pointed out that “the particular objective of investing in people has job creation and youth empowerment as one of the ways to invest.”
Osinbajo commended the National Universities Commission(NUC) for its role in helping to institutionalise the study of procurement, environmental and social standards in the Nigerian University System.
He commended other stakeholders for working towards the success of the SPESSE project while stating that the choice six centres, each in one of the six geopolitical zones would ensure inclusiveness and guarantee maximum benefits.
In his remarks, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, expressed optimism that the project would yield the desired result.
He said, “there is a need for human capital development and this is what this project has to offer.
“I am trilled that this critical need is going to be addressed through SPESSE.
“We look forward to working with all of you.”
In his remarks, the NUC Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, said the journey towards the launch of the project was painstaking.
He, however, expressed joy that the journey towards offering professional and academic activities to ensure good governance, effectiveness in service delivery among other things had started.
The SPESSE project Coordinator, Dr Joshua Atah said SPESSE, a five-year project, has a total budget of 80 million dollars, with 37.5 per cent being allocated for technical assistance.
He added that the remaining 62 per cent would only by disbursed based on performance, using Disbursement Link Indicators (DLI).
According to him, six centres of excellence have been earmarked to run the courses for the project.
He listed the centres as “The University of Lagos, Federal University of Technology Owerri, University of Benin, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi.”
Atah noted that the target was to train about 25,240 candidates within the lifespan of the project in the six chosen universities, where about 30 short courses will be offered among other things.
Atah said over 3000 short courses would be available for female students because of the gender-friendly nature of the project, while 30 per cent of the entire learning process of the project would be online.
He pointed out “that 11 entities are saddled with the responsible of implementing the project, including NUC, Ministry of Finance among others.
“The project is aimed at developing sustainable capacity in managing procurement, environmental and social standards in the public and private sectors.
“About 66 per cent of the resources for this project will be dedicated to procurement, while environmental and social standards enhancement would allocated 16 per cent.
“The Federal Government took a bold step approached the World Bank and took credit to build capacity in procurement, environmental and social standards to enhance sustainable development and that is what we are launching today.
The newsmen report that presentations and goodwill messages were offered by the Task Team Leader for the project, Bayo Awosemusi, Minister of Education, Minister of Women Affairs, Director General, Bureau of Public Procurement among others.
In the meantime, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have agreed to boost trade, investment and economic cooperation for mutual benefits.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed this development to the newsmen in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday.
According to him, the Nigerian delegation led by President Buhari discussed with the Saudis on several issues, including the need for their countries to continue coordination in the fight against extremism and terrorism.
Shehu, who spoke on the take-aways from the president’s visit to Saudi Arabia, said:
“For me, the most important one is…. you that this summit itself was co-summoned by the Saudis with over 5, 200 participants and to have chosen President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria to deliver the keynote is in itself a major recognition for him and the Nigerian State.
“It was for us to market Nigeria and make the most of these opportunities and I think the president has done this so well – even the address he read.
“Look at all of the things he has said about how attractive Nigeria is in terms of investment and how much his administration is doing in order to overcome the challenges that are on the ground that had stood in the way of investment.
“So, I think the story of Nigeria has been well told by the president at this event, and we are hoping that the response will equally be quite impressive.’’
On the Umrah, Shehu expressed the hope that Nigeria would win the favour of the Almighty God in addressing her challenges.
Members of the President’s delegation included the Ministers of Trade, Industry and Investment, Communications and Digital Economy and Ministers of State, Foreign Affairs as well as Petroleum.
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Abubakar Rufa’i and business leaders, Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Rabiu, Wale Tinubu and Alhaji Dahiru Mangal.
Also commenting on the Riyadh investment summit, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, said the forum provided Nigeria the opportunity to educate the world on the abundant economic and business opportunities in the country.
He said: “It is always important for Nigeria to be in such an international forum such as this because it gives us an opportunity to tell our story.
“It gives us an opportunity to let the world know what we are doing and why we believe Nigeria is the best investment destination in Africa.
“I was at a forum recently and I pointed out that anybody wishing to do business in Africa must first do business with Nigeria because if you don’t do business in Nigeria you are not doing business in Africa.
“So, we believe that we should come out here, this is an international forum; we should let the world know the Nigerian story.
“We are aware of the problems that we have and we are working to resolve those problems to create an enabling environment for investors,’’ he said.