TIME TO STOP JULIUS BERGER

Sir,
TIME TO STOP JULIUS BERGER
OPC in that their thought-provoking letter to Akwa Ibom Governor reminded him that Julius Berger and assortment of Lebanese Construction Companies (or fronts), milk Akwa Ibom; they do not reinvest the fund in the State, unlike Chief Idowu's JVL. Julius Berger alone has bagged acknowledged jobs worth over N120billion from the present two-year-old government in Akwa Ibom. These are thought-provoking.

This is a German company that continued to milk the nation dry, in collaboration with our leaders – past and present. They do not do this only through inflated construction costs but also receive mobilization without carrying on with the job. Thank God, this time around, the Federal Government has asked them to refund the N6.1billion that they collected for the East-West road construction, which they abandoned. It should not be only the refund; they should also pay interest for keeping this fund for years now. Anything short of this, suggests collaboration of some government officials to defraud Nigeria.

Can someone show us one single investment attributable to Julius Berger in Nigeria? All profits they make are transferred out of Nigeria. Recently, the Senate indicted Julius Berger, accusing it of illegally exporting out our solid minerals. This case should not as usual be allowed to die off with no concrete action taken against the company.

The Nigerian governments (Federal, States and Local Governments) should start growing indigenous construction giants. There is no special technique for becoming a construction giant; it only requires empowerments. Institutions like Julius Berger were not achieved overnight; it was through empowerment.

Dr. Segun Osobu, Osborne Road, Ikoyi-Lagos