The Orchid and Lantana hall of the exquisite Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos became a beehive of activity last week Tuesday 21st May, 2019, as engineers from the USA, Finland, Germany, UK, and Nigeria gathered to honour His Excellency, Otunba Gbenga Daniel the former Governor of Ogun State and Founder of Kresta Laurel. It was a gathering of sound minds in the building and construction industry, as several ideologies were brought to the fore to provide fresh ideas for the advancement of different individual companies. The forum was not just a brainstorming platform; it was also full of fun and entertainment. City People’s, DAMILARE SALAMI, was there and he brings you juicy details of all that transpired, enjoy.
TY SAX LIVE BAND OPENS THE FLOOR
The cool sound of jazz music from the stable of TY Sax opened the event about 9:30 am, as the expected guests began to troop into the Grand Ballroom of the Eko Hotel and Suites, which was arguably the most befitting venue for an event of such a magnitude and standard. TY Sax live band is a complete musical group, which offers DJ services and live band. Its professionalism came to the fore when it mattered most and it took the event far away from being boring.
MCS RUBBERTAINER AND TUNDE OGUNREKUN, ANCHOR THE EVENT
Popular, young and vibrant Nigerian MC, Rubbertainer is one of the fastest-rising comperes in the industry. He ran the event alongside Mr Tunde Ogunrekun and it was a perfect blend of official and comic relief anchoring.
KRESTA LAUREL MD, ENGR DIDEOLU FALOBI, WELCOMES GUESTS
The man saddled with the responsibility of reading the welcome address was a round peg in a round hole as he displayed an in-depth knowledge of Kresta Laurel, its partners and virtually all the VIPs seated. Engr. Dideolu Falobi is the Managing Director of Kresta Laurel and his speech was an insight into how interesting the whole day was going to be. He took his time to highlight all the activities and what the audience stood to gain by paying full attention and participating in the scheduled events as they unfolded. He welcomed everyone and noted that the event was designed to contribute to the body of knowledge in the engineering industry, in Nigeria.
KONE ELEVATORS, DEMAG CRANES & COMPONENTS, COXGOMYL MAKE PRESENTATIONS
KONE Elevators was represented at the event, by Mr Douglas Pyne, the company’s MD, Distributors. Kone was established in 1910 and started off in Helsinki, Finland. Kone is an international engineering and service company employing some 55,000 personnel across 60 countries worldwide. In addition, KONE builds and services autowalks, automatic doors and gates, escalators and elevators. Mr Pyne took out time to explain the comparative advantages Kone enjoys worldwide and how its partnership with Kresta Laurel had been of symbiotic advantage to both parties. He revealed that Kone as a leader in the global elevator and escalator industry as it provides a solution for modernisation and maintenance to add value to building throughout their life cycle.
DEMAG Cranes’ Senior Manager Distribution in Asia and Africa, Mr Andreas Voss, did the next presentation. He revealed that Demag Cranes & Components was established in 1819. “Powerful and reliable industrial cranes, crane components and drives are our core competence. As one of the world’s leading manufacturers, we have been offering our customers a comprehensive range of solutions for their material flow and logistics needs for 200 years; enabling them to achieve the highest levels, of efficiency and performance, he said. “Our goal is to lead in all safety issues and provide our customers with efficient and convenient lifting and transportation solutions, meet your needs in the manufacturing process, increase production efficiency and reduce labour intensity.” He further sang the praises of Kresta Laurel, saying that their partnership has brought about advancement for both companies and a safer work environment wherever Kresta Laurel is carrying out projects.
COXGOMYL’s Africa Regional Manager, Jared Knight, represented his company and gave a near-perfect presentation, convincing the audience the more on why they need to patronise his company the more. He revealed that CoxGomyl is the leading manufacturer worldwide of Building Maintenance Units (BMU’S), with over 50 years experience of providing innovative and complete facade access solutions. Furthermore, Mr Knight explained that CoxGomyl is a global engineering business with a passion for defending the beauty and value of architectural wonders by providing external building access solutions. Little wonder many of Kresta Laurel’s projects in Nigeria are evergreen. CoxGomyl solutions leverage our wealth of experience in designing integrated solutions for the world’s tallest and most complex structures. Fully customisable for every unique project, our solutions draw on our ever-expanding library of bespoke facade access systems and machine modules. Designers, consultants, constructors or owners are often faced with complicated facade challenges; the CoxGomyl designers have solutions and come up with different approaches and specialisations.
COMEDIAN PRINCEWILL-BRINGS COMIC RELIEF
Away from the serious business of presentation and use of engineering registers, Comedian Odeh Ajiri Princewill popularly known as Princewill, who hails from Delta State made the event one to remember with his Warri- made jokes. Princewill, who is a chemical engineer himself understood the atmosphere so well and directed his jokes in such a way that everyone’s rib was literally cracked.
ENGR. BAYO ADEOLA MODERATES COLLOQUIUM
As a promise kept, Kresta Laurel ensured that the event made an impact and it did so in the most professional manner by discussing a major challenge in the construction company and finding a possible solution to the challenge. The colloquium was tagged: ‘Delays In Project Delivery In The Construction Industries, Causes And Solutions.’ The panel members were all professionals who practise every day and could easily spot what the problems were and easily provide solutions based on their experiences. Members of the panel include Mr Charles Akindayomi, President, Association for Consulting Engineers in Nigeria (ACEN), Mr Olayemi Shonubi, Vice President, Nigerian Institute for Quantity Surveyors, Mr Yemi Ejidiran, 1st Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Building.
The moderator, Engr. Bayo Adeola narrowed down the topic to timely project delivery and quizzed the members of the panel in that regard. The panel sited lack of adequate process evaluation as one of the biggest time wasters of construction projects in Nigeria. After much ado, the panel concluded that one of the major causes of project delays is the frequent breakdown of equipment on site because those equipment are imported as second hand and often breakdown owing to maintenance issues. The solution would be that investors present at the colloquium should endeavour to produce such equipment here in Nigeria. This would further reduce the cost of the project and maximally reduce time wasted on repairs of equipment. The panel recommended that projects in Nigeria could not be successfully carried out on time without getting an additional construction consultant, which is the project manager. It further explained that contractors should stop using architects as project managers, instead, they should get certified and qualified project managers who will see to the projects as and when due.
ENGR. MAYOWA ISHIOLAOTAN TAKES BOOK REVIEW
Engr. Mayowa Ishiolaotan is the MD, Comprehensive Project Management Services (CPMS), a company chaired by Engr. Bayo Adeola, the author of the book under review. The book entitled. Principle and Practice of Project Management has 440 pages, 16 chapters and 7 sections.
The reviewer said that the book is highly recommended for all practising project managers and all individuals who are interested in executing various projects.
OGD UNVEILS BOOK
The Chairman of Kresta Laurel Ltd, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was saddled with the responsibility of unveiling the new book (Principle and Practice of Project Management) and he did in a grand style. As OGD invited Pastor Tunde Bakare, Yeye Olufunke Daniel, Engineer, Adekunle Mokuolu President, Nigeria Association of Engineers who joined Engr. Bayo Adeola and his wife on the stand, as the book was launched. It was not without glamour as the light on the stage and the flashes from different cameras added beauty to the already colourful day.
PASTOR TUNDE BAKARE EULOGISES OGD
Talking about OGD and Kresta Laurel, Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Presiding Pastor of Latter Rain Assembly, revealed that he was quite happy that he knew the beginning of Kresta Laurel and how much it had grown today was not a surprise. Quoting from the presentation of Mr Andreas Voss of Demag Cranes, Pastor Bakare encouraged every engineering firm in Nigeria to be committed to performance, just as OGD’s Kresta Laurel has displayed.
In conclusion, Pastor Bakare said “I’m leaving with a strong determination and conclusion that our country would still make it, that Nigeria would be saved, Nigeria would be changed, and Nigeria would become great in our lifetime. He commended OGD’s diligence and encouraged him to forge ahead. He also advised that Kresta Laurel be opened up so that members of the public could buy shares as the company grows bigger.
BACK TO BACK MEETING WITH OVERSEAS PARTNERS
The event cannot be said to have been accurately reported without making mention of the back-to-back meeting with Kresta Laurel’s partners from overseas. It afforded Nigerian clients present opportunities to ask questions face to face and directly from the expatriates from other countries. Kone, DEMAG, COXGOMYL and MAKELSAN all had their representatives seated and receiving enquiries from prospective and well established Nigerian patrons.
ROLL CALL
In attendance was Engr. Bayo Adeola, Chairman, CPMS, Mr Charles Akindayomi, President, Association for Consulting Engineers in Nigeria (ACEN), Mr Olayemi Shonubi, Vice President, Nigerian Institute for Quantity Surveyors, Mr Yemi Ejidiran, 1st Vice President, Nigerian Institute of Building. Pastor Tunde Bakare, Mr Andreas Voss, Senior Manager Distribution in Asia and Africa, DEMAG Cranes, Engr. Mayowa Ishiolaotan, MD, Comprehensive Project Management Services (CPMS), Jared Knight, Africa Regional Manager, COXGOMYL, Mr Douglas Pyne, MD, Distributors, KONE.
Also present was Engr. Abiodun Oyedepo, Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Safety Engineers, Mr Kunle Awobudu, Ex-President, Nigerian Institute of Builders, Mr Akeem Dickson, DG, Lagos state safety commission, Sir David Jones, Sir Pecker, Arch Mrs Ejiwunmi, Principal Partner, Promaco Ltd, Mr Brian Greenway, Mr Branco Calinage (Julius Berger), Vlado Grgc (Julius Berger), Payet Pulis, Alimac Group, Prince Bisi Olatilo.
ABOUT KRESTA LAUREL LIMITED
Kresta Laurel Limited is the only ISO certified lift and elevator company in Nigeria. It was established in 1990 and chaired by a former governor of Ogun state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who is also a certified Mechanical Engineer.
Kresta Laurel, proudly rides on the wings of some of the best construction and engineering firms in the world, having gained solid partnership with KONE in Finland, DEMAG Cranes and components in Germany, COXGOMYL in Spain and Australia and MAKELSAN Ups in Turkey.
Kresta Laurel has handled a number of world-class projects in Nigeria. It deals in construction, building, sales and maintenance of escalators, elevators, aircraft hangover doors, industrial doors, etc. Kresta Laurel has a perfect blend of experienced, qualified and HSE compliant Nigerians and expatriates on its staff list.
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