Association Blames Infrastructure Failure On Lack Of Due Process

The Nigerian Association
of Technologists in Engineering (NATE), Dr Leo Okereke, has attributed the high failure rate of infrastructure in the country to the lack of due process in the award of jobs.
The National President of NATE, Dr Leo Okereke, in an interview with journalists in Lagos, said that if due process were followed, the rate of infrastructure failure would be reduced to the barest minimum in the country.
“We are not feeling the impact of due process anymore.
“When Obiageli Ezekwesili was in charge of due process, there was serious monitoring of all construction jobs but now it is not as serious any longer.
“The rate of failure of construction jobs is increasing in the country and the government needs to pay more attention to this,” Okereke said.
He said that in recent times, non-professionals were being awarded jobs they were not qualified for, adding that formally, round pegs were put in round holes.
“In the past, if you are to be awarded a road construction job, you must have earth-moving equipment, an office and professionals as members of staff. But these days, such criteria is not regarded as important any longer,” he said.
Okereke urged the government at all levels to only give jobs to professionals, adding that all loopholes causing failure of infrastructure in the country should be blocked.
The NATE chief regretted the failure of infrastructure such as buildings and roads in the country.
He was particularly concerned about the failure of the Benin-Shagamu expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Okereke called on the Federal Government to rehabilitate the rail system in the country so that pressure on the roads caused by big trucks could be reduced and the roads could last longer.
He said that it was a source of worry for NATE members and the nation that the association was not accorded the recognition it deserves by the government.
According to him, this should not be the case as its members were in charge of the most hazardous jobs in the nation.