NCDC begins N400m Nasarawa headquarters remodelling

The North Central Development Commission has commenced the remodelling of its headquarters in Lafia, Nasarawa State, donated by the state government to facilitate the commission’s operations in the region.

Speaking at the flag-off of the project on Wednesday in Lafia, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NCDC, Dr Cyril Yiltsen Tsenyil, said the remodelling was aimed at providing adequate office space for staff and creating a conducive environment for the smooth operation of the commission.

According to him, the commission had been on the ground in the state for barely 12 months and needed to commence the implementation of its mandate to accelerate the development of the North-Central region.

He said, “You know that we are barely just one year old on the ground, just about 12 months, and we need to hit the ground running. We need to start projects, we need to employ staff, and therefore the need for us to upgrade this facility became very imperative because you cannot recruit staff without a space for them to stay to work.

“And so we need to accommodate our staff adequately. And that is why we are handing over this project to the contractor to quickly commence the job. We don’t have the time. I told you already we are 12 months old. We don’t have the time and the latitude.”

The managing director urged the contractor, Geodata Construction, to ensure that the project was delivered according to specifications, warning that poor workmanship would not be tolerated.

He said more than N400m had been approved for the remodelling of the headquarters, adding that the project was expected to be completed within 16 weeks and subsequently inaugurated.

“I want to again use this opportunity to call on the contractors that are going to handle this, that because of the lack of time and the need for us to hit the ground running, we appeal to you that you have to do this job as quickly as possible.

“The funding is there, but we cannot afford to lag. Because this is one of the commissions that is starting late, we implore you as contractors to please work assiduously to ensure that this contract is delivered right on time. This is because we will soon commence our employment and we cannot afford to keep our staff under the sun,” Tsenyil said.

The NCDC Executive Director in charge of Projects, Atika Ajanah, said the headquarters was expected to accommodate more than 100 staff after the remodelling.

“We have five directorates in the North Central Development Commission as it stands today. Executive Directors will also have their offices here, and so we are looking at this complex housing 100 and even more people,” she said.

In an interview, the Site Engineer representing Geodata Construction, Jim Jibril, assured that the remodelling would be carried out in line with specifications.

He added that the project would be delivered within 16 weeks of its commencement.

“If you come here in the next 15 to 16 weeks, you are going to see a new phase of this building. The schedule has been taken care of; everything that needed to be done from our own side to kick-start the work has been done.

“So as we speak, some of our equipment and machines are on their way to Nasarawa. So, by God’s grace, I’m going to assure you people that in the next three to four months, we are going to see a new phase of this building,” he said.