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Engineers want patronage for cable makers

By Bertram Nwannekanma
25 March 2019   |   4:01 am
Disturbed by the incessant cases of fire outbreaks in residential buildings and its devastating effects on the economy, the Nigerian Society of Engineers...

Chairman of Apapa branch, Sunny Ejeje

Disturbed by the incessant cases of fire outbreaks in residential buildings and its devastating effects on the economy, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has called for the patronage of indigenous cables.

The call, they said, was necessary because of the high quality, fire retardant component of wires and cables manufactured in Nigeria.

Chairman of Apapa branch, Sunny Ejeje who made the call at a workshop, themed: Effective Selection and Wiring for Residential and Industrial Purposes,” organized by the branch in Lagos, stressed the need for right selection of cables from the range of available brands for industrial and residential areas to avert fire outbreak.

Ejeje said the workshop was necessary to sensitise engineers on the new technology and products being manufactured by indigenous firms.

He said: “Our last industrial visit revealed the enormity of the problems of counterfeiting. With the increase rate of fire incidents, Nigerian firm introduced products that can withstand fire incidence.

“ So, we decided to come out with the workshop to educate our members on how to choose the right cables to stop such incidences”, he said.

On substandard products, Ejeje urged the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and other regulatory agencies like National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) to live up to their responsibilities.

Also, the past chairman of Ikeja Branch, Mr. Michael Awe said choosing the right cable was important because someone must pay for the errors made during installation.

“Whenever you commit an error during wiring either in residential or industrial areas, somebody somewhere will pay. No matter how big or magnificent a building is, wrong electrical connection can raze it down,” he said.

Awe explained that electrical engineers must be careful not to undersize or oversize cables to avert disasters.

He listed factors for choosing the right cables to include temperature, distance, current carrying capacity, voltage and the environment for installation.

Awe urged engineers to prioritise issues cable sizing, adding that aluminum cables would not do well in the environment that requires copper.

He listed the various categories and specifications for installation of cables in oil and gas environment, offices, residential areas, industrial areas and waterlogged environment among others.

The General Manager, Cometstar Manufacturing Company Limited, Mr. Peter Igwe raised the alarm on counterfeiting of cables. He educated engineers on how not to fall victim of huge number of substandard cables flooding the building materials’ market.

He urged engineers to also watch out for the mechanical strength of cables and put adequate protection around installation to avert accidents as well as damage to cables due to human activities.

He aso tasked engineers on the use of high-tension cables, underground cables, communication cables and other cable varieties.

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