FG cracks down on substandard school buildings, warns contractors

Favour Ishember, Abuja

The federal government has vowed to crack down on substandard school building construction across the country, urging stakeholders to ensure the quality of project delivery.

Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, Executive Secretary of UBEC, spoke during a training session for staff on enhancing quality delivery using simple tools for on-the-spot assessment at project sites.

Bobboyi warned contractors against delivering substandard school infrastructure, stating that the Commission would no longer condone shoddy execution of projects.

He restated the commitment of UBEC to improve the quality of educational structures, ensuring safe and conducive learning environments for Nigerian children.

“We are dealing with very strategic sector, children who are between the ages of 5,6 up to about 12 that are very vulnerable in any building collapse. We saw that when it happened in Jos”

“It is our responsibility to ensure that we take all necessary steps to build school infrastructures that are solid and can stand the test of time,” he stated.

The training, organized in collaboration with NBRRI and Tectonics Engineering Group, aimed to equip staff with tools to assess project quality.

Bobboyi disclosed that monitors would frequently visit construction sites to ensure compliance.

He emphasized the importance of handling educational infrastructure projects with utmost responsibility, citing the recent school building collapse in Jos. Bobboyi urged state governments to take proactive steps to ensure contractors adhere to specifications.

“Instead of just looking at what is there and so on and so forth, it’s to go with the kind of gadgetry that can also help us to test the strength of the materials that are being used.

“And it’s our hope that with our partners, NBRRI and other stakeholders, as well as the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), because the primary responsibility lies with them in our effort to achieve good outcomes as far as these projects are concerned,”
he said.

The Commission has had an elaborate monitoring system in place and is working with NBRRI and COREN to ensure quality delivery..

Professor Samson Duna, Director-General/CEO of NBRRI, praised the training as a proactive step to forestall building collapse incidents.

He warned contractors to adhere to specifications, stating that UBEC staff would visit sites with tools to ascertain material quality.

“So I’m now throwing a warning to contractors involved in taking contracts in constructing schools without following the required specification. They should sit up.

“UBEC has come up with an idea of ascertaining the quality of construction material used on site. The quality of concrete needs to be specified and the contractor must adhere to it. If he didn’t use it, the UBEC staff visiting the site, are expected to travel or to come with tools.

“And those tools will enable them to know if the contractor is using the right material. Both steel, which is a factory product, also confirm if the concrete used is in conformity with the design.”

The training aimed to ensure that contractors use the right materials, and tools would be used to test material strength. Duna reiterated the commitment to ensuring concrete quality meets specifications, stating that NBRRI has established tools to measure concrete in its wet and hardened states.