By Our Correspondent
A foremost facilities management expert who is also the head of facilities management department of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) ESV (Chief) P.C. Ozili, has called for constant training of facilities managers, stating that this would bring out their best and stamp authority in facilities management practice in Nigeria.
He stated this while presenting a paper on the theme “Effective Facilities Management: Key to Assets Value Sustainability” at the recently held one-day Mandatory Continuing Professional and Development s Seminar Organized by the Enugu State Branch of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers.
He also charged facilities mangers in the country to imbibe the spirit of team work, stating that it is only a self-fish professional that can lay claim to the mastery of all the skills required in facilities management.
Ozili said effective facilities management is challenging but in the present dispensation, it should be braved and embraced, adding that Formulation of facilities management policy/processes and working within the processes would bring about best practices in facilities management which results in effective facilities management.
“It is now obvious that effective facilities management enhances and sustains the assets values of an organisation; while poorly managed assets would be a liability to the organisation because its operations may be grounded. For you to succeed as facilities manager, you must imbibe the spirit of team work because it is only a self-fish professional that can lay claim to the mastery of all the skills required in facilities management,” he said.
He also said that though the Estate Surveyors and Valuers by their training and experiences are at vantage position to lead facilities management team, further training and re-training in facilities management would bring out their best and stamp authority in facilities management practice in Nigeria.
“Specialisation in the facilities management faculty of the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyor and Valuers (NIESV) backed by Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) is recommended for mastery of the new profession that is gaining ground.
Assets wastage would be no more if all of us imbibe assets and facilities maintenance culture and this will help our economy to grow. Our schools, hospitals, stadia, markets and other public places are decaying and it is only effective facilities management that would revise the trend,” he further stated.
He noted that facilities and assets being the soul of business organisation should be given desired attention in terms of their management.
Also speaking another expert, Dr. Godfrey O. Udo, a Professor of Estate Management and Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies at University of Uyo, Nigeria, advised organizations to have personnel with specialization of facilities management and seek individuals who have undergone appropriate education and training.
Prof. Udo said organizations should use every means within their power to gain knowledge of how existing firms have positioned themselves in the marketplace, and then design their business in a way that sets them apart from the others.
He said: “As an emerging discipline, Facility Management has become accepted by governments, the business community, educators and researchers as an essential component of today’s business world. Facilities management places the non-core business at the service of the core business in such a way as to protect an organization’s capital investment in real estate and helps turn a cost item into one of added value.
“Since running costs account for a significant part of annual expenditure, second only to payroll, there will be pressure to look for savings in non-core business areas. Cutting operating budgets may be an attractive, or financially expedient, short-term measure but may not foster the organization’s long-term development. Since the running of an organization involves complex, coordinated processes and activities, it is necessary to take an integrated view.”
Prof. Udo further advised that facilities management strategy must reflect the organization’s business objectives, needs and policies, as well as practicalities, such as its current real estate in general and space in particular.
