Foreign Affairs ministry team open IITA vehicle bidding exercise
To ensure appropriate processes are adhered to in the disposal of the Institute’s obsolete vehicles, a team of two officials of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with IITA officials in Ibadan on 9–10 July. The visit provided the visitors the opportunity to embark on a short tour of IITA-Ibadan to get better acquainted with the Institute’s facilities.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative with IITA team.
The team, led by Foreign Service Officer Yaro Rinjaya Matims, was received by Hilde Koper-Limbourg, IITA Deputy Director General, Corporate Services (DDG-CS). Joining Koper-Limbourg at the welcome program were the Resource Mobilization, Protocol and External Liaison Manager Toyin Oke, and Head, Facilities Management Services, Waheed Quader. The DDG- CS gave an overview of IITA’s activities and emphasized the importance of working with national bodies: “We work a lot with national bodies and we appreciate their commitment in facilitating and promoting IITA’s goals.”
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rinjaya said, “Indeed seeing is believing. After seeing all you do here, we now have a different perspective about IITA. We commend IITA in the way you work and all the things you do.”
Mohammed Baba Lawal added: “With the instruction from the National Security Adviser of the Federal Government to limit the issuance of diplomatic number plates, we promise to try and attend to requests that come from IITA provided the requests go through the required processes.”
Quader explained the need for vehicle maintenance: “Presently in IITA, we have 95 project vehicles which work on specific tasks. Maintaining the vehicles is highly important, but there is the need to dispose of old ones to reduce unnecessary expenses, hence the need for the bidding exercise.”
The team was taken on a tour of IITA facilities before the opening of the bidding process, which was conducted by the Institute’s Disposal Committee. Lawal said: “We are honored to be part of this year’s opening. You have truly done it the right way.”
