Kwara Holds Open Bid For Renovation of 31 Public Schools

The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, is sticking to his promise to ensure transparency in public procurement as no less than 115 local contractors on Wednesday participated in an open bid held for the renovation of 31 public schools recently advertised by the state government.

The bidding, which took place at the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, saw officials open and read out bidding details, including the technical and financial parts of the proposals.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mariam Garba disclosed that the first phase of intervention in public schools in the state would eight first generation schools and 23 selected schools.

All the schools would undergo comprehensive renovation including blocks of classrooms and staff offices to ameliorate the poor infrastructural facilities in public school in the schools.

The renovation of the 31 public school projects would be executed under 34 lots at the sum of N2,004,205,641.01

Some of the contractors who spoke with newsmen commended the state government for the transparency employed in the bidding process and for the confidence it has on local contractors.

The Secretary, Indigenous Contractors in Kwara State, Maroof Ahmed commended the state government for adopting a transparent process.

“The process is transparent. We all saw the opening of the bid – the technical and financial bids were opened in our presence and as far as we are concerned it is transparent. We have the assurance from the Permanent Secretary that everybody will be equally treated.

“We want to thank the state government for patronising the services of indigenous contractors because it has its own merits. An indigenous contractor who wins any of the lots will engage artisans, local drivers, suppliers and the likes and these people make the bulk of our population in the state,” Ahmed explained.

The Vice Chairman, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Kwara State who represented the society at the bid, Temitope Odetoye, the process is, fair, open and transparent as the bids were open in the presence of everyone.

“As Engineers, we have been promoting that indigenous engineers should be patronised. So, we are very happy this is happening. It a welcome idea. It is like giving back to the system and contribution to socio-economic development. So, our engineers are qualified. They have been trained and should be given the opportunity to contribute,” Odetoye explained.

The commissioner for education said the new administration in the state inherited “enormous infrastructure decay” which would take time to fix due to the huge cost.

The 31 public schools include Government Secondary School, Alapa, Asa LGA, Community Secondary School, Baboko, Ilorin West LGA, Senior Secondary School, Okelele, Ilorin East LGA, Ansar Islam Secondary School, Ikotun, Oyun LGA, Pategi Secondary School, Patigi LGA, Government Arabic College, Jebba, Moro LGA, Government (Unity) Secondary School, Kaiama, and Osi Central School, Ekiti LGA.