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Engineers seek private sector’s role in infrastructure

By Victor Gbonegun and Michael Ajamajebi
14 January 2019   |   4:03 am
To attain growth, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has advocated active participation of the private sector in infrastructural development.

To attain growth, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has advocated active participation of the private sector in infrastructural development.

It advised that such collaboration with other professionals in the built environment and those responsible for physical development would help to complement limited capacity in the public sector.

The association also expressed discontent over inability of government to trust and encourage indigenous professionals in project development.

NSE in a communiqué issued at the end of its 51st National Engineering Conference, exhibition and Annual General meeting themed, ‘Sustainable engineering infrastructure for accelerated rural development’ in Abuja, maintained that there is the needs to engage the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) to initiate legislations, which would facilitate and guarantee completion, utilization and maintenance of rural infrastructural development programmes by successive government.

NSE stressed the need for professionals and other leading engineering organisations in both the public and private sectors to call for the promotion of innovative funding mechanism to ensure the intensive involvement of the three tiers of government as well as private investors in rural infrastructural development

It stated, “NSE needs to engage BPP, ICRC to promote strategic communication, change the perception of public officials toward public Private Partnership for delivery of sustainable engineering infrastructure. NSE shall improve its collaboration with the Federal Government to ensure effective and sustainable implementation of the Presidential Executive Order 5 for planning and execution of projects, promotion of Nigerian Content in Contracts and Science, Engineering and Technology, signed on February 2018 by president Muhammadu Buhari”.

The society further assured that it would champion reorientation of engineers to make them much more responsive to the rural infrastructural challenges identified in their communities.
“There is the urgent need for NSE and other leading engineering related organisations in both the public and private sectors to carry out technical skills audit of all professionals involved in the value chain of rural infrastructure development, to be championed by the public and private sectors.

Similarly, the Chairman of Apapa Branch of NSE, Mr. Sunny Ejeje has stressed the need for recognition of expertise and skills of indigenous engineers in project delivery. Ejeje in an interview with The Guardian in Lagos posited that globally engineers are leading in technological development and innovations but its Nigeria counterpart are not making waves in such areas.

He said: “getting optimum performance only happens when our engineers are well paid. Nigeria engineers are performing well but we are still bringing in foreign professionals. Engineers should venture into politics so that when issues relating to the profession arise, they would be able to contribute immensely”.

He said engineering curriculum for tertiary institutions is considered inadequate for young graduates to impart the society adding that there is a wide gap between the school and the industry.

“There is a gap between the school and the industry. Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) is reviewing the curriculum of tertiary institution so that hey could meet up with the industrial needs”.

“The NSE is in good term with other societies as we work together for the goal of developing the nation. We want to go into industries, do more of workshops, sensitise our members to do more of community engineering so that the society will feel the presence of active engineering society. We will visit schools and let the young people know the worth of being an engineer and make the society to develop more passion for the profession”, he said.

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