The chairman of the governing council of the Federal College of Education (FCE) Zaria has given an ultimatum to contractors handling construction work at the college.Alhaji MD Abubakar Bodinga gave the ultimatum when he led the college governing council and management team on an inspection tour of some ongoing projects in the school.According to Bodinga, the council and management of the college would no longer take it lightly with contractors who abandon projects.

"We have inspected a lot of projects as you can see. Honestly, I am not happy with the way some of the contractors are going about their assigned projects. We give an ultimatum of one week to the contractor handling the construction of the new lecture theatre to return to site or risk revocation of his contract. Contractors handling other projects in the college who are yet to complete their jobs also have six weeks to do so", he said.

On the male hostels, Bodinga said since the funds budgeted for the project in 2007 were mopped off, the council would liaise with the federal Ministry of Education to ensure that the money needed to complete the construction work was incorporated in the 2009 supplementary budget. The council boss added that the Education Trust Fund (ETF) had approved the construction's proposal of the site and the Fund would sponsor the project.

"I am impressed, however, with what I have seen at the HIV Counselling Centre under construction. The contractor is doing well and he deserves our commendation. We would like to use this medium to urge the college staff, especially those living in the quarters, to change their attitude towards the environment they are living in. The quarters are untidy and its not good for our image", he added.

Speaking on behalf of the contractors, Sanabil Company Ltd, blamed the slow-pace of work on the inflation rate in the country, saying the contractors had to source funds from other places to cover for their shortfalls. Sanabil, however, assured the council and management of their commitment to complete all projects assigned to them.