The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has renamed the Abuja International Conference Centre after President Bola Tinubu.
Mr Wike made this known during the unveiling of the rehabilitated centre by Mr Tinubu in Abuja on Tuesday, as part of activities to celebrate the president’s second year in office.
He also named some of the halls after Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representative, Tajudeen Abbas.
This, according to him, is to thank them for supporting the FCT Administration and demonstrate the cordial working relationship, among the executive, judiciary and legislative arms of government.
He recalled that the conference centre was built in 1991 under the military government, adding that the centre had not been rehabilitated since then.
He said that Mr Tinubu, in line with his “Renewed Hope Agenda,” gave the order to rehabilitate the centre, following the dilapidated state of the conference centre.
Mr Wike added that following Mr Tinubu’s quality leadership, the matching order transformed the edifice to a befitting conference centre, which demonstrated that Nigeria was truly the giant of Africa.
“Today Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre is a match with any other international conference centre in the world,” he said.
The minister, however, said that to maintain the facility, everybody that intends to use the conference centre must pay.
He said, “I want to let everybody know, whether you are a ministry; whether you are an agency, if you want to use this you must pay something. That is the only way it can be sustained. Nothing like my brother, my sister has a wedding. If you want to use such a beautiful place, then you must pay something.’’
Mr Wike said that the centre was handed over to a politician to manage and he killed the place.
He added that when the FCT Administration took over the edifice to rehabilitate it, the politician dragged the FCT Administration to court amidst other pressures from politicians.
He thanked Mr Tinubu for encouraging him to go ahead with the rehabilitation and ignore the distractors saying, “if not for your kind of person, we would not have done this work. We thank God for showing that leadership. This is because our problem is leadership. If you have the right leadership, things will get done and that is what you have shown us”.
Mr Tinubu, who described Mr Wike as a transformative leader, noted the dilapidated state of the centre when he visited the centre to attend the ECOWAS Parliament.
He said, “It was a very dirty, disorganised, uninhabitable environment. Aside from the side talk I had with the Senate President, I turned to Wike and said this conference centre is not reflecting who we are. Have we sunk this low? He said no, but bear with us, we will do whatever we can do to transform the place. You won’t come back to find it in a dilapidated state and today I am very happy. I am greatly honoured and happy to be here to reopen this international conference centre as part of our determined efforts to change the way we do things, to reflect us as people of quality, people of character, people of determination, people of great spirit. That is who we are and I am glad that you, Nyesom Wike, is reflecting that.’’
Mr Tinubu urged Mr Wike not to pay attention to the busybodies and bystanders, “whatever they say, continue to do your good work. You are a transformational leader, you have the foresight, the vision and the determination to succeed. Thank you very much.’’
On his part, Mr Akpabio commended Mr Wike for the renovation, rehabilitation, and transformation of the international conference centre.
“We are proud of the fact that we do the budgeting, we give the approvals, and you do the execution.,” he said.
The centre, built by Julius Berger Nigeria PLC in 1990 and completed in time for the 1991 OAU Heads of Government meeting, has long served as a venue for government functions, international summits, exhibitions, and corporate events.
(NAN)