Project Management Conference (ProMacon) has indicated interest to partner with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), non- governmental organizations (NGOs) Schools and Caregivers on the promotion of project management which it said, is key to national development.
ProMacon is an independent and not -for -profit organization, established since 2009 actively promotes the culture of project management in private and public sectors through capacity development and stakeholders engagement in various facets of the economy.
Taopheek Babayeju, ProMacon Founder at briefing journalists in Abuja ahead of the organization’s 10 anniversary in November said, the important role of effective project management in national development across all sectors cannot be over-emphasized especially in the current competitive global economy.
Babayeju, noted that many third world countries are also taking advantage of technological innovation to embark on projects that are improving the lives of their citizenry and giving them a significant voice in global politics, and Nigeria cannot be an exception.
“Project management is key to National Development. Whether we like it or not, every nation that has to succeed has applied the principles of project management which is the art of proper execution. Ideas are cheap, implementation is key.
“You can have all the strategies in the world, all the wherewithal, without having a proper plan of how to execute, they said failing to plan is planning to fail. So every nation that has developed has mastered the art of project management”, he said.
The ProMacon Founder noted that numerous abandoned and poorly completed projects across Nigeria amounting to billions of dollars in waste, point to the need for re-examining the nation’s general approach to project delivery.
“Jonathan constituted a Committee headed by a former Minister of FCT and they came out with about N3 trillion value from abandoned projects, that is huge. When President Buhari came on board, he decided to complete Jonathan’s projects. So national development is a continuum. What we see in this part of the world is that everybody wants to deliver projects whether it take people out of poverty or not, is just about doing something”, Babayeju remarked.
He disclosed that for this year’s national conference, Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, Ministers of Works, Power, Aviation and Transportation who are mostly involved in project execution are expected to be in attendance alongside relevant Members of the National Assembly and other critical stakeholders to cross-fertilize ideas on project management.
“We think it is time to bring the stakeholders together, bring project management back to the front burner and have a conversation around it. In the last ten years, there was no awareness of the role played by project management.
“Every government project now has provision for project managers. Now we have several organizations in which everything they do now is project management. It was not here 10 years ago. We have several bodies that are involved, local and international organizations and affiliations in Nigeria which do project management. We are the platform that encourages best project management in Nigeria”, Babayeju added.
