The Nigerian Society of
Engineers (NSE), Abuja Branch, says the fusion of indigenous construction companies into conglomerates would earn them more government patronage.
The Publicity Secretary of the branch, Mr Ben-Osy Okoh, said this while speaking with reporters recently in Abuja.
Okoh said that the merger of smaller indigenous contractors into huge construction companies, would enable them to contribute their professional skills to the development of the Nigerian economy.
“Government should encourage local engineering contractors to merge into conglomerates to compete favourably with their foreign counterparts.
“In Brazil for instance, many of the small companies were able to fuse into a conglomerate and were able to compete with these foreign contractors.
“It is high time we started encouraging indigenous contractors. We must give indigenous engineers the opportunity to showcase their professional skills and experience.’’
Okoh said that the NSE had commenced the process by promoting the merger of some local contractors into a single indigenous construction company known as ‘Kakatar’.
According to him, ‘Kakatar’ is the only indigenous construction company that has been awarded contract to provide district infrastructure in Abuja.
“We (NSE) are using `Kakatar’, an indigenous engineering company in Abuja to showcase to the government what Nigerian companies can do when they merge into one strong entity.
“Kakatar is the first indigenous company comprising smaller companies that is handling the construction of the Maitama Extension provision of city infrastructure.