Awobodu emerges president, seeks institute’s recognition

To mitigate activities of quacks in the industry, the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) has called on the federal government to give more recognition to professional builders in the country especially in the delivery of projects.

The new national president of the institute, Mr. Kunle Awobodu made the appeal during his inauguration at the 49th Builders’ Conference/AGM 2019, held at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He stressed that the government should institute the enabling law and implementation mechanism that would reverse the current inadequate involvement of professionals in building construction.

“With the volume of buildings being constructed in Nigeria, it becomes an irony when trained Builders are complaining of joblessness. This is an area the government should pay attention to. When buildings are falling frequently due to inadequate professional involvement in building construction, government should institute the enabling law that would reverse the current unacceptable construction process. We shall work together with the Government and also hold them accountable”.

He pointed out that the tragedy with the nation is that square pegs are deliberately put in round holes for selfish reasons lamenting that clueless and unpatriotic persons, who do not possess the natural passion to carry out an assignment are the ones usually saddled with a professional responsibility.

The president advised that government should endeavour to institute a system that would not sacrifice merit for mediocrity and pledged that the institute was effectively ready to collaborate with the government to ensure that the right people are assigned into the construction sector.

He disclosed that the institute would embark on international collaborations in order to equip members with latest construction technology and improved methodology while specialisation in different areas of building by members will be introduced so as to improve competence.

“This administration will sustain the ongoing nation-wide up-skilling of the old and training of new building artisans by the NIOB and Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) in line with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) of the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) and with the support of the NSIO N-Power programme of the Federal Government”.

“If Builders are complaining about the Nigerian Construction sphere replete with quackery, we should proffer the competency that will encourage developers and clients generally to patronise trained Builders. In view of this, self-development and professional competency drive will be salient in the programme of this new NIOB administration.”, he said.
Awobodu also harped on the need for government to strengthen implementation of law to curb cases of building collapse in the country.

The newly elected members of the National Executive Council of the association for (2019 – 2021) include, Kunle Awobodu (President), Prof. Yohana Izam, (first Vice President), (Sir) Alderton Ewa, (second Vice President), Bimbo Kolade, (third Vice President) and Kenneth Nduka, (Immediate Past President)

Other are, Christopher Belonwu, (General secretary), Segun Dosumu, (assistant general secretary), Sadiku Sarki, (Treasurer), Yemi Adeoye, (financial secretary), Mrs. Fatimoh Osho, (registrar) and Akinola Bammeke, as the (publicity secretary).

Speaking during the conference, the wife of the former governor of Rivers state, Dame Judith Amaechi, a town planner disclosed that her foundation, the Empowerment Support Initiative (ESI) has provided intervention in critical areas of the construction industry in partnership with development partners such as, the Niger Delta Development Commission, UNICEF, among others to train and retrain artisans in the construction sector.

Specifically, she said about 125 artisans have been trained in tiling, electrical wiring, screeding, POP, painting, Iron mongering, plumbing, home finishing skills and others while participants are awarded from internationally acclaimed institute from the United Kingdom.

She urged those in the building profession to lead the drive toward actualizing sustainable development by the year 2030. She also advised the NIOB to sustain its mutual relationship with ESI.