Adebayo Canvases for Standardisation in Managing Projects in Nigeria 

The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has emphasised the need for standardisation in managing projects in Nigeria.

He made the call in Abuja on Monday, while delivering a keynote speech at the 2024 annual project management conference and induction ceremony of the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria.

Adebayo, who argued that project management was about standard, noted that housing and road construction in Nigeria differ from place to place because there is no clear cut standard in managing such projects in Nigeria.

“If you go round different parts of Nigeria, we have no Nigerian road design standard. Even in Abuja, you will see a road that is well paved with markings and everything, and then you go towards another road, it is completely different, no marking, no shoulder, nothing. 

“Now if everybody is measuring your performance based on standard, it will be okay by me.

“Project management is interdisciplinary. Whether you are a lawyer, priest, engineer, finance person, quantity surveyor, or whatever discipline you belong to, we all meet project management.

“Project management is all I have done as an investment lawyer. The most important skills in project management are the skills of coordination, harmonisation and communication. Ability to coordinate is very important,” he said.

He suggested that President Bola Tinubu should be a member of the institute because, according to him, Nigeria is a project and needs to be managed properly.

“The project of Nigeria is contained inside our constitution as in what kind of country we want to be.

“The president is the project manager because the project belongs to all of us. He is an employee who is given a limited time. Therefore, we must manage the resources well,” he submitted.