Exploiting the power of PPP for infrastructure renewal
In a any economy where government is determined to promote growth through private enterprise, public-private-partnership (PPP) initiative is always a preferred option for either developing or renewing infrastructure.
This is because government has no business in business and therefore finds it hard to manage or maintain existing assets. Many public assts and even monuments are rotting away because of this.
Management Development (CMD) is a massive federal government property sitting on 5.02 hectares of land in the Magodo area of Lagos. The facility was concessioned recently to Allied Trust and Systems Nigeria Limited (ATSL) on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) lease agreement.
By that single action, CMD has been transformed into a one-stop-shop for fun and entertainment centre which will be yielding income for both the concessionaire and the federal government.
By the terms of the lease agreement, the concessionaire is expected to renovate the existing 30-room facility (serving as the Guest House), construct a 102-room guest house with four-star facility, build and operate a 1,000-seat conference facility and pay a graduated annual rent to the federal government in three tranches over the lease period.
It is unimaginable the number of jobs this will create or may have created and the impact this would have on individual and household economy. For the Lagos State governments, income will from both company taxes and personal income taxes to be paid by people to be employed at the centre.
“The aim of concession agreement with CMD, a federal government parastatal, is to develop CMD Guest House, a property owned by the institution; not only has ATSL succeeded in transforming the guest house, but also gone beyond that to develop the property, turning it into a five-star relaxation centre through the establishment of several other businesses within the property, with the latest being Funplex Event Centre”, Emeka Nwasike, ATSL managing director, explained.
The event centre, which is part of a mix called Funplex Resort, is a one-stop-shop for fun and entertainment. “Our goal is to provide Nigerians with an event centre that can cater for all their corporate and social needs,” he said.
The event centre houses a gym, spa, beauty saloon, cinema, a bush bar, an underground club house and event halls that have the capacity to sit over 2000 guests comfortably. This provides a relaxation centre for the residents of the two phases of Magodo Estate who, before now, had to travel long distances, spending time and money in search of fun places for relaxation.
Former director general of CMD, Joseph Yakubu Maiyaki, who was in office when the institute and ATSL signed the agreement, described the project as a good example of a public-private partnership.
He affirmed that the concession was done as an alternative means of generating income for CMD. “Though the institute is government funded, we felt there was a need to develop other ways of generating more funds in alliance with the federal governments’ vision for the concession programme.
CHUKA UROKO