By Ade Jacobs
Julius Berger Abumet, the aluminium and glass design, production and implementation subsidiary of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, has been hailed as “an inspirational trail-blazing agent of National industrial Development”, as it wins this year’s Builders Achievers Award.
Abumet, which launched its pioneering innovative product, the Abumet Evonig Glass, and commissioned its state-of-the art IGU production line in Abuja during the year, won the award for its outstanding service.
Tagged “Nation Builders Achievers Award 2020”, the prestigious industry award was earned by Abumet for providing “Sustainable Best in Class Aluminium and glass solution” for the built industry in Nigeria.
The Nation Builders Achievers Awards (NBAA) event which held on December 18, 2020 at the Nigeria Air Force Conference Centre in Abuja, was organized to appreciate consistently creative, resilient and outstanding individuals and organizations whose hard work, business integrity and productive exploits towards the growth and development of Nigeria and Africa have distinguished them as nation builders.
The award aims to motivate leaders and future leaders to make sustainable and positive impact in the society with a higher aspiration to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It would be recalled that earlier in March this year, Julius Berger Abumet invited the Minister for Industry, Trade & Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, as well as other industry and corporate stakeholders to have a first-hand look at some of the latest industrial production facilities and processes at the Abumet factory at Idu Industrial Area, during the commissioning of the Abumet Evonig Glass production line in Abuja.
At the event, the Honourable Minister had congratulated and commended Julius Berger Abumet for its initiative to domesticate the novel production of Evonig Glass. Adebayo who said the current Administration has a vision to create a hundred million jobs in the country in the next decade, described the Abumet plant as a worthy job creation initiative.
Otunba Adebayo also gave kudos to Abumet for pioneering the first and most advanced fully automated IGU production line in Nigeria. The Minister described the Abumet production plant as a revolutionary fillip to Nigeria’s industrial development.
“Keep up your worthy contributions to our strategic national industrial development and growth works”, Adebayo had said to Julius Berger Abumet.
Giving his address at the event, the General Manager of Abumet, Mr. Tamas Hovart defined Evonig Glass as an industrial acronym which proudly synthesises the two words ‘Evolution’ and ‘Nigeria’. The product, Tamas said, “is not just an improvement of existing offerings in the Nigerian market; it is a combination of the latest technology and a skilled and committed Nigeria team.”
The Abumet Evonig Glass, Tamas further explained, “is a special offering defined by great production quality according to best international standard, innovation, availability, local content and a strong Nigerian workforce, reliable technical partnerships and advanced technology as well as sustainability and reliable after sales service.”
During the ceremony, Tamas had informed guests that current industrial and procurement estimates of supply to the Nigerian IGU market is put at 90% for imported production and 10% for local production. This situation, he said, exposes the Nigerian users of the product to long wait for offshore shipments and prohibitive exposure to foreign exchange challenges. Julius Berger Abumet, Tamas said, “aim to offer comparably faster delivery times for a high quality insulated glass unit solution made in Nigeria with international standards, at a competitive rate.”
The Julius Berger Abumet Evonig Glass, Tamas said, offers technical solutions more commonly known as Double glazing, a well-known application in Sub-tropical areas engineered to reduce heat transfer and noise across a building; and Triple glazing designed to achieve greater performance level.
This glazing technology now manufactured in Nigeria by Julius Berger Abumet is highly recommended where the temperature difference between interior and outside spaces is significant and greater thermal insulation required, said Tamas.
Tamas had also highlighted that another key benefit of Evonig glass is that it technically increases the important function of security in a building, because with more more glass panes, IGU panels with a combination of laminated or toughened glass types it gets more difficult to break!
The award was received on behalf of Abumet by the Executive Director of Administration for Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi.