By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) is organizing a 3-day procurement in-house training for all procurement and other relevant officers in NASENI system -wide to acquaint them with best procurement operations and in line with global practices.

According to a press statement e-signed by the  Deputy Director, Information, at NASENI, Chima Akwaja, the training will take place at the NASENI Headquarters, beginning from Tuesday 8th  to 10th October, 2024, targeted at building the capacity of procurement officers, and other select staff from Accounts, Audit, legal, Media, Planning and other officers involved in procurement activities in NASENI System-wide.

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NASENI, Khalil Suleiman Halilu will deliver the keynote address while Olusegun Omotola, Ag. Director General/CEO, Bureau of Public Procurement will declare the in-house training officially open.

The training amongst other things aims at ensuring that NASENI is doing the right thing and adhering to 2007 Procurement Act, Manual and other vital information that will enable the Agency to continue on the right track and to utilize the right information at every given time, as far as procurement matters are concerned.

Speaking on the upcoming training, the Director of Procurement at NASENI, Dr. Mohammed A. Mohammed said that the training was based on NASENI needs and to enable officers meet up with changes in technology and practices which were global phenomenon, especially against the backdrop of on-going transformation in the NASENI system.

Dr. Mohammed  said, “Things are changing, and you need to change with time, technology is changing globally, you need to build your capacity. This training is based on NASENI Needs on procurement which is slightly different from other sectors.

“Almost 75-80 per cent of NASENI activities is based on science and engineering, our method of procurement, is a little different, from the ministry of works, raw materials, etc.  Again, you must build your capacity to be able to cope, which is why we are having this training, to build capacity in line with NASENI needs and mandate.”

According to him, building capacity was a continuous exercise and procurement was all about law end to end, adding that the officers working in procurement must be trained from time to time to equip them with new trends.

He also noted that with the Standard Operation Procedure globally and the World Bank new version on procurement, NASENI could not work differently but must key into global practices. He stated that 95 per cent of the resource persons for this training were from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) as NASENI had an agreement with it, to assist in building the capacity of procurement and relevant officers in NASENI system-wide.

Also speaking on the upcoming in-house procurement training, BPP consultant, Adekoya Olatunji said, that “the In-house training that is coming up in NASENI is very good, it will enable the officers to adhere strictly to procurement Act. What NASENI is doing is very good, so that the officers will do what they need to do very well“.

Highlights on some of the topics of the training with the theme: “Building the Best Procurement Operations in NASENI System-Wide” include, Effective Procurement Practices & PPA, 2007, Procurement Planning, Procurement Record Keeping Procedures, Contract Agreement and Implications amongst others.