…Approves N4.233bn for Aviation fire simulator
Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the contract for the rehabilitation of Ikorodu-Shagamu Expressway in Lagos at the cost of NN20.9billion.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who stood in for the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this to State House correspondents yesterday.
According to him, the project will reduce accidents on the highway and loss of production time. He added that the project, when completed, will enhance movement of petroleum products and agricultural produce.
The meeting also approved a contract for the installation of fully automated fire and smoke aircraft training simulator by the Ministry of Aviation at the cost of N4,233.756. It will be installed at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria.
Similarly, the council approved the contract for the construction of Law Faculty building at the University of Uyo (UNIUYO).
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, briefed State House Correspondents on the outcome of the council meeting, joined by his counterparts from Sports and Education, Solomon Dalong, and Adamu Adamu respectively, as well as Ministers of State for Aviation and Labour/Employment, Hadi Sirika and Prof. Steven Ocheni, respectively.
Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said when completed, the Ikorodu-Shagamu project will save lives, reduce travel time and operating cost for vehicle operators and commuters.
He said: “The significance of the award of this contract is that it will reduce road accidents and loss of lives. Of course, it will reduce travel time and operating cost for transporters and commuters, and more importantly, it will enhance the movement of petroleum and agricultural products and also facilitate other commercial activities.
“If you remember, Mosinmi, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot is along that line.”
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Aviation said the council considered and approved a memo from Ministry of Transportation (Aviation).
According to him, “the purpose of that memo was to award a contract for the design, manufacture and installation of fully automated fire and smoke aircraft training simulator. The total contract sum is N4,233.756. The council graciously considered and approved the contract.
“This fire fighting equipment is very important because when we came into government in 2015, I found myself approving several hundreds of thousands of dollars for our fire fighters to go to Cameroon to get trained for proficiency in fire fighting and come back to fight fire in Nigeria with 30 airports.
“We cannot continue to depend on a neighbouring country to learn how to fight fire. So, we conceptualised and developed the project. Federal Fire Service, state governments and anybody can leverage on the equipment we will bring to fight fire.”
The Minister of Education spoke on the contract for the construction of Law Faculty building at UNIUYO at the cost of over N800 million.
During the FEC meeting, Minister of Sports, Dalong and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Ocheni, presented their ministries’ scorecards from 2015 till date.