Reps Laud CBN’s Interventions In Education

The House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its several intervention projects and specifically the center of excellence project which focuses on education.

Speaking during an inspection of the on-going project site in the University of Lagos last week, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Jones Onyereri, said the House had been worried about the projects but had experienced a change of mind after inspecting the sites.

The Post-Graduate School project, cited at the University of Lagos comprises a Faculty building, a 150 room hostel, auditoriums, restaurants, lounges, lecture halls and more to create a conducive learning environment is part of  the apex bank’s bid to enhance financial education.

The same initiative is being replicated in  other universities nationwide such as the University of Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Nigeria, Enugu. Speaking with journalists during the oversight function, Onyereri said “we had a lot of challenges with the CBN with respect to the interventions of this project but immediately we started undergoing this oversight visit and seeing in reality what is on ground, must of us changed our minds if not everybody because it is obvious that the projects are laudable and not just being laudable but it is done in an excellent form.”

Expressing disappointment on the timeline of the project which is estimated to be concluded in three years, Onyereri said “we want the project like yesterday. For us this project could have been completed like yesterday but having seen the various challenges that they have encountered, I and the members of the committee will only insist that the project be completed latest 2019 or 2020 at the most. That is the most reasonable.”

Responding director, corporate communications of the CBN, Isaac Okoroafor said “when this contract was signed it was like every other contract that we had. We don’t have abandoned contracts.

“The problem here actually emanated from the choice of the site. The initial site that was shown to us was okay but suddenly the university came and said that that site was not available and then brought us here. If you come out and look at the entire place, there are snakes and all kinds of reptiles. It was difficult even to enter the place. So, because of the terrain it took a long time and if you know the number of sands that were sunk here, ordinarily given the Nigerian case the whole thing might have been abandoned but we said no. In spite of all these problems we have a very strict relationship to variations. So we won’t change the figures. We haven’t adjusted it. It is still the same thing. We haven’t seen the need to do that.”