By Victor Gbonegun (Lagos), Cornelius Essen (Abuja)
•Tasked on industry-specific projects
The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE) has called for concerted efforts among stakeholders to end collapse of buildings and bridges in the country.
The President, Kehinde Osifala, who stated this during its annual conference in Abuja, stressed the need for advocacy and public enlightenment on the dangers and economic implications of substandard structures.
Osifala said: “It is unwise for anyone to build without advice from a professional engineer because competency of those who are construct buildings are required to prevent loss of lives due to building collapse.
Speaking on ‘Structural Engineering Practice, Local Content, Infrastructure and Economic Development’, he said the major reasons for building and bridge failures include, the use of substandard materials, quacks, failure of designs during the construction.
According to Osifala, government needs to give local engineers opportunity to showcase their talent instead of giving contracts to foreigners.
“Government should allow Nigerian engineers to partner with their foreign counterpart as a means to exchange ideas because at the end of the projects, the foreigners will leave the country while the Nigerian counterparts would be left to manage the structures.
The institute’s Deputy President, Peter IgbiniJesu called on stakeholders to support engineers in their quest to impact positively on Nigeria’s economy and move the profession to a great height.
