Federal Secretariat Tops Public Buildings in Abuja
Housing
By Dan Ede
One of the features of the new Nigeria's Federal Capital City, Abuja, is the sophistication of the public and private buildings in the city.
The public structures in particular are marked improvement on the previous ones in Lagos.
Examples are the Federal Secretariat Complex, the NNPC Towers, the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) building, the National Assembly Complex, the Supreme Court, the new Police Headquarters (Louis Edet Plaza); and, of course, the State House, Aso Rock.
Of these public buildings, THISDAY checks authoritatively revealed that the Federal Secretariat Complex is the largest single public building project in the city.
Construction work on the prototype secretariat complex, located on Plot 3, Three Arms Zone, Abuja, started on March 1, 1990.
It was divided into three phases for ease of work; and work on all the three phases was completed in February, 1995.
But the first phase, comprising of the towers, was completed first and commissioned by the then military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, on November 30, 1992.
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc was the main contractor handling the project, while the department of public works of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) was the supervisor.
Design was by Albert Speer and JB Nigeria Plc, in joint venture cooperation.
The gigantic complex took five years to complete.
The structure, comprising two towers of 12 floors each, is serviced by four high-speed and high-capacity lifts for swift movement of high volume of human and material traffic. There are also two low-capacity lifts at Annex Three.
The whole building, including the staff and visitors car parks, has a volume of 391,000 cubic meters, designed to accommodate a minimum of 6,000 workers in 1,900 offices.
The car parks have a combined capacity for 710 cars at once. But additional parking spaces for 74 vehicles have been added, adjacent to the frontage garden.
The maintenance division in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, on the directive of the management, has constructed an underground water tank capable of holding 900,000 litres or 225,000 gallons, that is, 300 cubic meters of water against any shortage that could make the 206 toilets in the complex dirty.
The peak demand for electricity on a typical working day is 6,000 KVA or 6 megawatts, enough for a medium size semi-urban town.
There are four generating sets with a combined capacity to generate 2,450 KVA or nearly 2.5 megawatts of electricity. Two generating sets with capacity to generate 400 KVA each are dedicated to the lifts in the complex for safety.
The lifts are not hooked to power supply network.
A 300 KVA generating set is assigned to light up the Annexes in case of power failure from the national network.
A giant 1,250 KVA set is for the towers. All the generating sets are on standby to ensure that a general power outage does not disrupt work in the complex.
According to the Press and Public Relations Division of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which made this information available, at least 1.5 tons of solid human waste deposited in the 120 public toilets and 86 executive toilets by the nearly 10,000 workers and over 5,000 visitors each day is flushed down the sewer network.
At least 500,000 litres of water are used daily in the building.
In addition to the SGF's office, which has eight permanent secretaries in its fold, the complex currently houses 15 federal ministries. These include communications, power and steal, education, science and technology, justice, and environment.
Others are youths and sports, health, labour and productivity, solid minerals development, women affairs and social development, police affairs, aviation, petroleum resources, cooperation and integration.
The following government agencies are located or have office in the complex: the National Planning Commission, Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC), Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, Code of Conduct Bureau, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc Resident/Technicians, National Copyright Commission, Code of Conduct Tribunal, The Presidential Air Fleet, and The National Refugees Commission.
Others are Police Service Commission, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Liaison Office, Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) Liaison Office, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Federal Road Safety Corps, National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission, The Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, National Action Committee On AIDS (NACA), Office of the Vice-President (annex), Office of the Presidential Advisor on Utilities, Office of the Advisor to the President on Petroleum and Energy Matters, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Liaison Office, and Office of the Special Adviser to the Vice-President (political).
The following Facilities are part of the complex: public pay phone, complex-wide public address system, a large conference hall, 30 mini conference rooms, 72 kitchenettes, a library, ablutionaries, and specialized libraries (at CS, Police Affairs, National Planning, PAC, FMH, FMJ ML&P; and CC Tribunal).
Others are Federal Staff Clinic, the bridges linking the towers and the Annexes to each other, staff canteen/restaurant, fire service, a mosque, a chapel, branch of a bank, a Law Court room, a Nigeria Police Post, water fountains dispensing cold water located on all floors in the Annexes, Air Booking Office, and power plant (with four generating sets).
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