Water factory to boost IGR at YABATECH | EduCeleb
Abdussomod Amoo
11th April 2019
A water factory recently commissioned at the Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) is set to boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the institution.
This is following its recent openingto also provide hygienic and affordable water for the College community and itsenvironment.
When it begins full operation, it is projected to produce about 31,000 sachets water (50cl) and 10,000 bottled water 75cl and or 50cl) per day.
The main product of the factory is named YABATECH Premium Table Water, according to YABATECH Consult, the commercial arm of the premier polytechnic.
Among state of the art equipment there include reverse osmosis, ozonator and superior micron filters for both the bottled and sachets water.
Director, YABATECH Consult, Mr Iyang Udoh revealed that the bottles for the water were produced there and there is equipment for the production of 66 big iced blocks per day with a cold room for storage.
YABATECH Chairman, Governing Council,Prince Lateef Fagbemi who conducted the commissioning of the project praisedthe Rector, Engineer Obafemi Omokungbe for his resilience, and his ability toundertake the “thought provoking project”.
He described him as a silent achieverwho “God has put in charge to pilot the administration of this College to agreater height.”
Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,also thanked members of the Council for buying into the vision of the Rector.
“No matter what type of dream youhave, if you don’t have the support of the governing council the dream will notcome into reality, that is why I want to specially thank my colleagues fortheir understanding.”
“We all know the importance of water,no man on earth will wake up in a day and say that he is not going to drinkwater, if at all he is not drinking, he will use it to bath. I am happy thatthe dream of this water factory has come to pass; therefore I want tocongratulate everybody that contributed to the project.
“I want to recommend this water for everybody, also encourage us to advertise this water because no matter how good your product is if you don’t advertise it nobody will do it for you. I want to advise that all the materials that will be needed for the production of the water should be sourced from within including the labelling, so that the money is retained here, nothing should go outside.”
Earlier in his opening remark,Omokungbe tagged the water factory “another landmark achievement” he wasgrateful had become a reality noting it importance to the university.
“Clean and safe water is required fora healthy living and as a responsible institution; we are concerned with thewellbeing of our staff and students. We want everybody to stay healthy, we wanteverybody to ensure that water in the College is safe for consumption and wewant to produce water by our self since the source of water being sold by mostvendors is unknown.”
“The College revenue is very poor,and it has become quite challenging to meet up with the maintenance of theexisting facilities and provision of infrastructure for the College. Ittherefore become necessary for the College to urgently improve its internallygenerated revenue to be able to meet its obligations since the fund fromgovernment has become inadequate. It was on this basis that the YabatechConsult was mandated to ensure completion of this project within the shortestpossible time.
“I am pleased to inform you today,that the YABATECH Water Factory is a reality. The water factory is wellequipped with the latest technology, machine and equipment. YABATECH water hasbeen approved by National Agency for Food and Drug Administrative Control(NAFDAC), having met the required standard. It is worthy to note that thetrademark for YABATECH Consult Water has also been approved.”
Omokungbe hinted that as from nextweek there would not be any water on the campus except Yabatech water, and inmonths to come Yabatech Bread Factory would also be commissioned; he thereforethanked the Director, Yabatech Consult, Mr. Iyang Udoh who has workedtirelessly with his team for the realization of the project.
EduCeleb.com reports that water factory was one of the uncompleted projects Omokungbe administration inherited from his predecessors in March 2018.
Aside the bottles being locally produced, the factory construction work was led by the Director, Physical Planning Unit, Engr. (Dr.) Kehinde Osifala, the Project Architect, Arc. Sheriff Ayodele-Oja, and the Quantity Surveyor, Mr. Joseph Ekhator.
Also, a student in the Graphic Design Department, Mr Moshood Ogunsanya designed the labels for the bottle and sachet water reportedly without making any demand of the polytechnic.