Workers’ Day celebrations, developing Nigeria economy, and priority to indigenous contractors

By Yemisi Bamgbose

A lot of us were doubting whether a local contractor can be able to do a good job to this particular job, we have our reservation when the contract was awarded but today, we are all witnesses that this chamber exceeded our expectations, that this chamber is a befitting chamber for the tenth House of Representatives -Tajudeen Abass, Ph.D., Speaker House of Representatives.

For close to two years, Hon members of House of Representatives, and Distinguished Senators could not sit in the original chambers meant for legislative business because of damages associated with the age of the National Assembly which was constructed in 1999. Part of the damages was a leaking roof, which led to dilapidated infrastructure.

The need to renovate the chambers comprehensively arose in 2022 when the chambers had become uninhabitable for the legislative duties of our distinguished lawmakers.

As usual, the foreign contractors came with bogus proposals accompanied by blackmail that no local contractor has the capacity of renovating the chambers in such a way that will meet international standards.

Different tactics were employed by foreign firms to discredit nigerian indigenous contractors as being inferior. However, a voice arose in support of the local contractors to give them a trial. The contract was eventually awarded to Visible Construction Limited, a subsidiary of Laralek Ultimate Group, a fully registered Nigerian indigenous company owned by a young Nigerian.

Just this week Monday, the Speaker House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abass revealed in a trending video how the leadership of the National Assembly had thought that there was no Nigeria indigenous company that was capable of handling the renovating of the Chambers of the National Assembly to meet international standards.

The Speaker made this open confession when he led other dignitaries including the immediate past Speaker of the 9th Assembly and the current Chief of Staff to the President Mr Femi Gbajabiamila to inspect the newly completed renovation project of both the Chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, handled by  a local contractor, “Visible Construction Limited”  a subsidiary of an indigenous company, Laralek Ultimate Group.

Hear Mr Speaker “This chamber has been completely and fully renovated. For those who know this chamber in the past, I will bear testimony that this chamber has become a new edifice altogether. This is a master piece,a fantastic job done  by a local contractor and we must commend him for the job he has done because a lot of us were doubting  whether a local contractor can be able  to do this particular job, we have our reservation when the contract was awarded. But today we are all witnesses that this chamber exceeded our expectations, that this chamber is a befitting chamber for the 10th House of Representatives”

The Senate President and other Distinguished Senators equally poured encomiums on the local contractor. Visible Construction  Limited that turned around the hitherto dilapidated Chambers of the National Assembly to a fantastic and new edifice  as aptly described by Mr Speaker is just one out of many indigenous companies and contractors in various fields that have capacities to perform far better than the foreign contractors who are being used to cart away our resources  under the pretence that they are the ones that have experts and technical -know -how to handle certain projects.

Check many of the roads awarded to the foreign contractors after 2 years of completion, and you begin to ask questions if indeed such roads were constructed by foreign contractors.

Nigeria has one of the best manpower in the area of engineering, architecture and allied profession but those in authority and power have relegated them to the background in preference to foreigners that they are using to siphon stolen money away.

There are foreign contractors that don’t even employ Nigerians as drivers not to talk of engaging qualified Nigerian experts to work with their own experts on various projects being paid for by the Nigerian governments.

I can imagine the numbers of Nigerians that worked with Laralek and its subsidiary that renovated the chambers within a period of two years. The quality of jobs handled by some of the so-called expatriates are very substandard.

Recently, the Minister of Works Engr Umahi exposed to the public the types of low-quality materials being used by one of these foreign firms to construct Nigerian roads. These foreign contractors are in habits of dragging the contracts awarded to them in order to demand variations.

As we are celebrating Workers’ Day, this write-up is a clarion call on both the Federal and States Government to give preference to local contractors in handling of roads and other related contracts.

To the owners of Visible Construction Limited, I say kudos for making indigenous companies proud.

Yemisi Bamgbose writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

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