By GRACE ALEGBA

The Special Adviser to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, on Saturday called on engineers to flush out quacks in the construction industry.

Adeyoye said that quacks caused building collapse.

She was the guest of honour at the maiden Hamed Lawal Distinguished Public Lecture organised by the Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE) in Ogba, Lagos State.

The lecture was entitled “National Local Content Policies in the Construction Industry – Strategies for Optimal Deployment for Engineering Professionals”.

Adeyoye said that the collapse of a 21-storey in Ikoyi, Lagos, recently, called for soul-searching on the part of professionals, who had left a vacuum for quackry to thrive in the construction sector.

She advised engineers to take up roles to become licenced construction inspectors.

Adeyoye, a Fellow of NICE and the Nigerian Society of Engineers, shared experiences on how she unbundled the ministry for efficiency.

She gave insights on how local engineers could benefit from the National Local Content Policies.

“The building collapse (Ikoyi) portends a very good opportunity for us to go back again to the basics. Where did we go wrong?” she asked.

She called for decisive actions and implementation of recommendations from the lecture and previous seminars to correct anomalies in the construction sector.

“The elders in the profession must sit down, even the builders. It is time for the building professionals to know what the local content policy says.

“It starts with, do we even have a building code? If we do not have a building code, what are the timelines that we give ourselves to get these passed?

“The moment we say that one, who are the professionals for different levels of developments? Who and who can practise?

“We must never give our food to dogs. If we have done that, it is never too late to take it from them and then decide that we will do things professionally,” Adeyoye said.

The guest speaker, Mr Robbie Owivry, advised local engineers to upgrade their skills and grow capacities to qualify for opportunities created by the Local Content Policies.

Owivry said that the Executive Order 5 signed in February 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari created an enabling environment for local engineers and local suppliers to thrive in bidding for projects in the construction industry.

“The National Content Policies enhance economic growth, physical infrastructure development, avenues for improvement of education and talent of local workforce, and creation of a better community for all involved on one hand, and to serve as gateways for the Nigerian engineering professional to take prominence in the construction industry, on the other hand,” he said.

Mr Tunde Olatunji who represented NICE National Chairman, Dr Jang Tanko, narrated impacts made by Mr Hamed Lawal in engineering, saying that he deserved honour by the association.

“The honour is long overdue,” he said.

Responding, Lawal, the first NICE National Chairman and Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, shared experience and knowledge he gained abroad.

He called for local and foreign expertise to coexist for sharing technology and skills for quality assurance in the construction sector.

The Chairman of NICE, Lagos State Chapter, Mr Olawale Bolarinwa, in his opening speech, had said that the theme of the lecture was chosen for experts to give directions in moving Nigeria to the next positive level.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Lawal was honoured for birthing NICE and growing it. (NAN)

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