Building the African University of Science and Technology (Aust), Abuja For

By Osondu J. Onwuzuruigbo

This book is a report of the initiation and implementation of a development project for the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria, solely supported by African Development Bank. It can be regarded as a case study of which an in-depth and detailed examination of all events as reported will reveal for the benefit of readers, the shortcomings or excellence of the management of the events with respect to the overall realization of the defined project objectives cum outputs and outcomes.
When I began writing this report, the intention was to document for AUST's reference purposes, all the events that took place during the project period as per the records kept during the implementation of the project. However, at a certain point, it became obvious that I would be doing a disservice to the financiers of the project, African Development Bank, professionals, vendors, students, donors and recipients of grants/loans from development agencies, if the opportunity the report presents for learning and improvement of relevant skills and systems was discarded. For this reason, the report was turned into a book giving full account of roles, successes and shortcomings of persons and entities involved in the initiative of the African Development Bank's support to African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, in building a place for science and technology excellence in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
In terms of scope, the book begins with introduction that gives a background and objectives of the project and proceeds with the outline of the outputs and outcomes of the project and then discusses the governance, administration and financial management of the project. The last and most detailed element of the report is the activity implementations that involve contract procurement and administration where applicable, internal processes and execution.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543953503

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Copyright © 2018 JOC.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher and the author of this book, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

ISBN: 978-1-54-395350-3.

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First printing edition 2018.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

FOREWARD (1)

FOREWARD (2)

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ACRONYMS

PART I: THE PROJECT

INTRODUCTION

OUTCOMES AND OUTPUTS OF THE PROJECT

GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROJECT

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT

PART II: PROCUREMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES

SECTION A: GOODS

SUPPLY OF COMPUTER EQUIPMENT

SUPPLY OF 1000KVA GENERATORS

SUPPLY AND INSTALLATION OF LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

PROVISION OF VIDEO CONFERENCING CENTER

PROVISION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTER CLUSTER

SUPPLY OF BOOKS AND SUBSCRIPTION TO JOURNALS

SECTION B: WORKS

CONSTRUCTION OF LABORATORY BUILDING

COMPLEMENTARY SUPPLY ITEMS TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF LABORATORY BUILDING

SECTION C: SERVICES

ENGAGEMENT OF VISITING FACULTY

OFFER OF SCHOLARSHIPS

WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

PARTNERSHIPS

PROJECT FINANCIAL AUDITS

PART III: CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.      Agreement and Implementation/Disbursement Structure

Figure 1.      Governance and Implementation Structure of the Project

Figure 3.      Reallocation Flow.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Project Components and Budget

Table 2i: Basic Project Data: Responsible Personnel

Table 3: Primary Outcomes of the Project

Table 4: Primary Outputs of the Project

Table 5: Some unanticipated outcomes of the project

Table 6: Steering Committee Meetings

Table 7: Technical Committee Meetings

Table 8: Initial Grant Structure, Reallocation and Actual Expenditure

Table 9: Disbursement Schedule

Table 10: Total Disbursements under Different Currencies and Methods

Table 11: Special Account Disbursements

Table 13: Documents required for Direct Payment requests.

Table 14: Schedule of Financial Audits

Table 15: Analysis of the items bided by the four Bidders

Table 16: Recommended Bidders and Best Evaluated Bid Prices for Contract Awards

Table 17: Equipment Groupings and Invited Companies for the bidding process

Table 18: Lowest Evaluated Bids, Recommended Bidders and Contract Award Prices.

Table 19: First Batch of Books and Journals

Table 20: Space Distribution of the Laboratory Building

Table 21: Bid Prices for the Supply of Loose Furniture to Laboratory Building

Table 22: List of Faculty engaged by AUST under the project

Table 23: List of Beneficiaries of Scholarships

Table 24: Workshop and Conferences organized or participated in under the project

Table 25: Evaluation Criteria and Weightings

Table 26: Indicators and Mark Distribution for Specific Experience of Firm related to the assignment

Table 27: Mark Distribution for Methodology with respect to TOR subjects

Table 28: Indicators and Marks Distribution for Qualification and Competence of Key Staff

FOREWARD (1)

I first met the author, Osondu Onwuzuruigbo when he was a staff of the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir el-Rufai in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2007.  I also worked with him as a member of the team that helped to establish the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) Abuja, where I served as Vice President – Academic, Research and Innovation in 2011, and later as President between 2012 and 2014.

It was during my tenure at AUST that the implementation of the project, Support to Network of Science and Technology (AUST & 2iE) Project financed by the African Development Bank was at its critical stage. Of the various activities of the project, I remember working closely with Osondu Onwuzuruigbo, the Project Manager on the development of the experimental laboratories and the High Performance Computing (HPC) center. These were two complex projects that required a detail-oriented approach to the development of cutting-edge facilities within an African context.

From the detailed specifications of every piece of equipment, to the position, back-up power supply, water supply and maintenance, the project team led by Osondu exercised a sustained effort that resulted to a successful completion of the $11.2million project. This of course was not without the rigorous adherence to the strict compliance and governance requirements of African Development Bank, transparent internal control mechanism of the University, unfettered cooperation of the African Development Bank staff, commitment of the contractors and suppliers and requisite honesty and integrity of the project team.

This book provides a detailed account of the experiences of the author in the development of the most comprehensive science and engineering labs in sub-Saharan Africa. I commend the efforts of the author, and I hope that this book will provide others with insights that are needed for the successful execution of complex projects in developing countries.

Finally, I would like to thank African Development Bank and the Board, management and staff of AUST for their support of the labs that can enable Africa to use science and technology as engines of development. 

Prof. Wole Soboyejo

Provost, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester MA, USA

FOREWARD (2)

The desire of development partners and agencies is to achieve the expected result on their interventions on projects and programs they are involved in. Such anticipated results are often achieved with close symbiotic relationship between the financiers and the benefiting organizations. This book, Building the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), Abuja for Science and Technology Excellence: An Account of an African Development Bank Supported Project by Osondu Onwuzuruigbo reveals a classic example of such mutual relationship that led to the successes achieved in the African Development Bank (ADB) funded project executed by African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria between 2010 -2017.

The work is a chronicle of the processes that AUST went through with ADB in procuring goods, the supply and installation of computer equipment, generators, laboratory equipment, video conferencing center, high performance computer cluster; and purchase of books and subscription to journals. The analysis also involves local and international interactions during the construction of laboratory building, as well as the engagement of visiting faculty, scholarship awards, organization and attendance of workshops and conferences, partnerships with international institutions and private sector and project financial audits. In effect, the book can act as a procurement guide to access and administer funds from Multilateral Development Banks and International Financial Institutions in terms of the processes and procedures involved in acquiring and managing such intervention funds.

This highly laudable effort by Osondu Onwuzuruigbo is a product of his vast experience and training in the built environment as a quantity surveyor and financial expert trained in a number of internationally recognized institutions. The privilege of working with him for about five years leaves me with no doubt that he is one of those transparent, prudent, meticulous and dedicated individuals I have ever met; with whom public funds under his supervision would always be properly utilized.

The essence of documenting past successes, challenges and even failures in project procurement, as evident in this work, is to avail readers the opportunity of understanding present realities to be able to make informed decisions that would positively affect the future in developmental efforts.  Through this book, the writer has thrown light on series of events leading to the positioning of AUST as an emerging institution in championing science and technology in Africa.

Dr. Ousmane Dore

Director General, Central Africa

African Development Bank

PREFACE

SCOPE AND RELEVANCE OF THE REPORT TO STAKEHOLDERS

This book is a report of the initiation and implementation of a development project for the African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, Nigeria, solely supported by African Development Bank. It can be regarded as a case study of which an in-depth and detailed examination of all events as reported will reveal for the benefit of readers, the shortcomings or excellence of the management of the events with respect to the overall realization of the defined project objectives cum outputs and outcomes.

When I began writing this report, the intention was to document for AUST’s reference purposes, all the events that took place during the project period as per the records kept during the implementation of the project. However, at a certain point, it became obvious that I would be doing a disservice to the financiers of the project, African Development Bank, professionals, vendors, students, donors and recipients of grants/loans from development agencies, if the opportunity the report presents for learning and improvement of relevant skills and systems was discarded. For this reason, the report was turned into a book giving full account of roles, successes and shortcomings of persons and entities involved in the initiative of the African Development Bank’s support to African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, in building a place for science and technology excellence in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.

The events reported in the book are given in acknowledgement of the facts that; (1) they are the truth and not my making or opinion; and (2) the funds provided for the project are public funds and therefore require enough disclosure of the process, persons and entities involved in the use.

In terms of scope, the book begins with introduction that gives a background and objectives of the project and proceeds with the outline of the outputs and outcomes of the project and then discusses the governance, administration and financial management of the project. The last and most detailed element of the report is the activity implementations that involve contract procurement and administration where applicable, internal processes and execution. The activities include for the goods category; the supply and installation of computer equipment, generators, laboratory equipment, a video conferencing center, a high-performance computer cluster; and the purchase of books and subscription to journals. The works category had only the construction of laboratory building, while the services category comprised the engagement of visiting faculty, scholarship awards, organization and attendance of workshops and conferences, partnerships with international institutions and private sector and project financial audits.

Because of the diversity of the project, the stakeholders who in normal course of their functions are continually involved in different kinds of projects will identify, for improvement purposes in this book the relevance of mentioned documents, processes, action or inactions of persons or institutions involved under various circumstances as reported. In this regard, the Table below outlines for both existing stakeholders and other relevant ones the possible usefulness that may be found for enhanced operations as one diligently carries out the analysis of the report: