By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have opened talks for the revitalization and commercialization where possible, of Federal Government properties abroad.
The talks, according to a statement by Manji Yarling ICRC Acting Head of Media and Publicity, which opened last Tuesday between the Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama and the ICRC DG Michael Ohiani with both teams, continued on Friday with the inauguration of a PPP Unit in the Ministry.
The move, which is at the instance of the Ministry is part of efforts to get alternative funding sources to maintain the nation’s missions abroad and also develop or acquire new properties for newly set up missions.
Speaking at the inaugural meeting, the Minister said that funding had become a major problem for the ministry with many of its properties being undeveloped, underutilized or poorly maintained.
He said that over the years, the properties had continued to depreciate in value while some had even been lost due to the inability of the ministry to develop them in line with the laws of the host nations.
“If you go on a tour to some of our facilities what you would see would make one want to cry. So we have been trying to find some kind of solution to the challenges,” he said.
He noted that some of the issues that had put the country’s properties abroad in such dire situation include that of funding, reduction in staff and change in layouts, adding that one of Nigeria’s diplomatic buildings was now in a commercially busy area with a night club right in front of it.
“We want to turn those prime properties into money making ventures, so we have been looking for partners to come on board.
“We have to come up with a business model that works and is sustainable, we really have to do something about these properties that we own and have an inventory of all our assets,” he said.
Giving insights into the move, Ambassador Janet Olisa who oversees the Office of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry said that the ministry wanted to use proceeds from the PPP initiative to maintain its missions and properties abroad.
“We have properties but we don’t want to sell, we need the revenue generated from these properties to take care of the properties that we are using.
“We want to be able to do a PPP arrangement where the ministry brings in the property while the private investor brings the funds to revitalize the properties.
On his part, the Director General of ICRC, Michael Ohiani informed the Ministry that the ICRC was set up to regulate such infrastructure development and management using private sector funding.
“We have reviewed the situation pertaining to our properties abroad and taken into consideration the economic loses, diplomatic embarrassment and security risks, we have come up with ideas to bring them to optimal utilization,” he said.
Ohiani disclosed that the ICRC as part of its regulatory functions monitors the entire PPP procurement process and also conducts due diligence on the private sector investors to ascertain their capability for any PPP project.
He assured the minister of the commitment of the Commission to see the proposed projects to fruition, adding that a team from ICRC would be ready to work with the newly inaugurated PPP unit to actualize the goals of the Ministry.
According to the statement, with the inauguration of the PPP unit and the first training, all is now set for the technical aspects of the proposed PPP arrangement to commence.
