IFMA Abuja, was established on 15th,
March, 2006 when the then President of IFMA Nigeria, Mrs. Marrion Johnson and the
Secretary Mrs. Iyabode Abaoba visited Abuja on the invitation of practicing
facility managers in the Capital City to inaugurate the Abuja Chapter. Prior to this time, members of IFMA
Nigeria domiciled in Abuja had to attend monthly meetings in Lagos at extreme
cost and inconvenience. A decision
was therefore reached upon request that a chapter be inaugurated in Abuja, the
new Federal Capital Territory.
After the inauguration, the chapter continued to meet monthly up till
this time.
Intentions of Establishing Abuja Chapter of
IFMA
The establishment of Abuja Chapter of IFMA
is part of a sustained effort by professional facility managers to arrest the
decline in the management of Nigeria’s facilities and infrastructure. The nascent Federal Capital City of Abuja
was clocking thirty years then and the facilities had started showing signs of
wear and tear which if not quickly and professionally arrested will lead to a
general decay of large portions of the Capital. The Abuja Chapter of IFMA was thus established to among
others:
(a) Provide resource for the facility Management
Industry in the Federal Capital Territory.
(b) Provide the much needed professional expertise
and Excellence in the management of facilities in
the northern part of Nigeria.
(c) To create avenues for practicing facility
managers and other professionals to share benchmarks and
synergize in the management of facilities in the Capital
Territory.
(d) Provide an avenue for contribution to research knowledge in the practice of facility
management in the developing world.
Challenges
The Chapter faced numerous challenges though not
unexpected of a new organization such as ours. Some of these challenges were:
(i) Lack of understanding of what facility
management Is all about and how it is different from other
existing professions.
(ii) Lack of facility management policy in most
organizations resulting in irregular funding for facility
management programmes and capacity building.
(iii) Inadequate knowledge of the practice of the
profession such that practitioners are unaware of the
advantages of networking and benchmarking.
(iv) Inadequate budgeting of facility management in organizations which results in lack of support
by such organizations for our members and consequently
the chapter.
These challenges are however being gradually
overcome.
Finances
The chapter has thus far been funded by
the benevolence of members. All
our activities are underwritten by members’ generous donations including
meeting venues and refreshments.
The chapter has an account which was opened and it is for deposit
only. All the funds accruable to
the chapter since formation has been paid into the account and it is presently
with a balance of over two million Naira.
This I am handing over to the new Exco. I do sincerely hope that this tradition will be built upon
to make our chapter financially buoyant.
Achievements
The chapter recorded a number of modest
achievements since inauguration. A
few of these are:
(a) The sensitization of the Federal Government to
the need For professional facility management techniques
in the management of the nation’s facilities and
infrastructure.
(b) Recognition of facility management in the
government and private sector circles in the FCT as evidenced
by the establishment of facility management departments and
periodic adverts for recruitment by both Public and Private
Sector operators
(c) Charter of the Abuja Chapter of IFMA by the
International Headquarters in Houston, USA.
(d) Successful certification of members as CFM
and FMP.
(e) With the active support of the Chapter, under
my leadership the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria commenced an
M.Sc. Facility Management programme in the Department
of Building at which two members of the chapter
are part
time lecturers (Alh. Abubakar and myself).
(f) The chapter presented two widely acclaimed
papers on Facility management in
Nigeria/the FCT at an International Facilities management congress
in Japan (2007) and WWP Dallas USA (2008).
(g) The chapter has been represented in all EuroFM
and IFMA World Workplace annually since
inauguration.
G. Unconquered
Lands
There are yet more areas for the chapter
to improve upon and to explore in future.
A few of these are:
(i) The institutionalization of facility management
policy by the government as the tool of management of the
nation’s facilities.
(ii) The certification of more members as CFM
& FMP
(iii) The re-engineering of the Abuja Chapter of IFMA
into a responsive chapter capable of meeting the
challenges of development in the FCT and the need of
members.
Recommendations
The new Exco must endeavour to utilize the
knowledge, reach and contacts of every member to achieve the chapter’s
objectives.
-
The chapter leaders
should maintain close liaison with top government officials responsible for
decision making on government facilities.
-
The chapter should
maintain contact with political leaders and elected officials in order to ensure
the continuous growth and recognition of the profession.
Acknowledgements
On behalf of the Exco which I have led
since 2006, I wish to acknowledge the following whose contributions ensured the
success we are witnessing today:
(i)
IFMA Lagos
(ii)
Engr. Mike Liddle
(iii)
All members of IFMA
Abuja Chapter
(iv)
Late Jones Ajiboye
(iii) Management and Staff of IFMS & ICC
(iv) All the members of my Exco
(v) Alhaji Ahmad Abubakar
(vi) President Collins Osayamegh CFM CFMJ
(vii) My family.
Farewell
I wish the incoming Exco. a wonderful time
and I do pledge my availability to serve whenever required to further the
growth of facility management practice anywhere in the world.
Farewell!
ENGR. SAMSON AMEH OPALUWAH
No comments:
Post a Comment