Nigerian Engineers And Infrastructural Dev

I would have loved to practice civil engineering which I studied in school but I am only working in this place just to keep body and soul together,’’ says Tomi Akande, a banker.

Akande says that he graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2000 and was jobless for about four years before getting a job with a bank in Abuja.

“Engineers in this country have yet to be fully engaged but I hope that one day, things will turn around,’’ he says.

Akande is one of the hapless Nigerian engineers who have abandoned their professional calling due to unemployment in the country.

Analysts say that the development has somewhat affected Nigeria’s infrastructural development, while impinging on the development of the engineering profession as well.

The Federal Government has also shown appreciable concern about the growing infrastructure deficit in the country and it is bent on tackling it as part of efforts to boost the national economy.

Dr Mansur Ahmed is the Director-General of the Infrastructure and Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and he says that the decay in the country’s infrastructure can be attributed to years of neglect and defective planning by past governments.

He recalls that in the period after independence, Nigeria had a culture of long-term planning to ensure the sustainability of the country’s basic infrastructure.

Ahmed says that problems relating to bad roads, inadequate water supply and poor power supply in the country are the consequence of the infrastructural decay.

He stresses the need for the revival of the planning and maintenance culture in Nigeria to enable its government and people to tackle the country’s infrastructural decay decisively.

Experts, nonetheless, stress that for the country to overcome the problem and improve the country’s infrastructure, Nigerian professionals, particularly engineers, must be mobilised and encouraged to brace to the challenge.

However, Mr Emeka Ezeh, the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, underscores the need to fight against corruption in the construction industry and urges Nigerian engineers to be more proactive in taking charge of the country’s infrastructural development efforts.

He challenges Nigerian engineers to be more involved in construction contracts awarded by the Federal Government, urging them to be mindful of their sensitive position in infrastructural development efforts.

Ezeh stresses that the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineers (COREN) must necessarily strive to safeguard the ethics of the engineering profession.

“There had been reports of some unwholesome practices that have given the engineers a very bad image.

“The NSE and other regulatory bodies should strengthen the mechanism for disciplining members who violate the code of ethics of the profession,’’ he says.

Apparently aware of the compelling need to improve the country’s infrastructure, the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has made available N500 billion for infrastructural development projects.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Olusegun Aganga, has repeatedly assured the citizens of the Federal Government’s determination to fast-track the growth of the country’s economy.

He says that the construction industry is one of the core sectors that are under the government’s focus in its efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure.

Besides, Aganga says that the Federal Government has been engaging stakeholders in the industry to fashion out a development roadmap for the sector’s development.

“The Federal Government will play its role and it is expected that the stakeholders will work toward ensuring that government gets value for the projects it is executing,’’ he says.

The minister says that apart from spearheading the country’s infrastructural development, the engineering sector could help in efforts to reduce unemployment in the country.

Aganga implores Nigerian engineers to be more proactive, while occupying their rightful position in government efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure.

Ezeh says that for the Nigerian economy to grow at a double-digit rate of 12 to 13 per cent and achieve the targets of Vision 20:2020, priority attention must be given to training in science, engineering and technology.

He calls for the proper funding of engineering studies in the country’s tertiary institutions to aid the training of engineers who will help Nigeria in tackling its infrastructural development problems.

Ezeh says that even though the Federal Government had allocated N238 billion for the rehabilitation of roads across the country, there are no functional laboratories to test and analyse construction materials.

“My advice is that the Federal Ministry of Works should devote between N600 million and N1.2 billion to equip faculties of engineering under a strategic partnership with the universities.

“These laboratories, while serving as teaching laboratories, will as well serve the ministry in analysing construction materials for projects in the zone,’’ he says

Ezeh urges the Ministry of Power to also implement the proposal in the universities’ departments of electrical and mechanical engineering.

“With this kind of strategy and synergy, the ministries will be able to assist in equipping all the departments in the universities’ faculties of engineering in a pragmatic way,’’ he says.

However, Ahmed reiterates the need to promote the culture of long-term planning and maintenance, stressing that the entrenchment of the culture will enhance the country’s infrastructural development significantly.

Besides, he calls for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in infrastructural development efforts, saying that such arrangements will promote the management and maintenance of the country’s infrastructure

The ICRC chief says that the collaboration will also ensure the durability of infrastructural projects, adding: “If we begin to do these things now, our country will inevitably move forward.

“We are starting with the restoration of the planning culture which the current federal administration re-introduced through its Vision 20:2020 initiative.

“With the implementation of the programme and the efforts of the ICRC, I believe we are moving in the right direction to change the situation of things in our country,’’ he says.

Ahmed, nonetheless, urges Nigerian engineers to strive hard and collaborate with all stakeholders in efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure.

All the same, Mr Emmanuel Ekpeke, Managing Director, Emmanuel Construction Company, insists that the Federal Government never believed in the ability of local engineers to execute certain infrastructural projects.

He argues that if local companies are given the chance to meaningfully partake in infrastructural development efforts, the state of the country’s infrastructure would not have degenerated to this level.

“Most of the country’s roads and other infrastructure, right from the early days, were constructed by foreigners and local engineers were not allowed to participate.

“The government should now reverse the trend and involve local engineers in infrastructure development projects. Such an approach will be very beneficial, as it will spur Nigeria’s transformation,’’ he says.

Ekpeke’s sentiments are quite logical, as many observers urge the Federal Government to ensure that Nigerian engineers are effectively engaged in its efforts to reduce the country’s infrastructure deficit.

They, however, note that the government is quite on track in its determination and efforts to improve the country’s infrastructure through various reform programmes, which are also aimed at fostering the citizens’ socio-economic development.

Nnaji, writes for News Agency of Nigeria.

Edith Nnaji