Omolabake Fasogbon
The Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE) has stressed the need for local content development in the engineering profession to be able to develop and improve local capacities.
The institution at a public lecture organised in honour of its Founder, Hamed Olugbenga Lawal, in Lagos recently, argued that engaging local resources would cause the economy to experience exponential growth.
It added that engaging local content would reduce incidence of building collapse to the barest minimum.
The keynote Speaker, James Owivri, while speaking on the theme of the lecture: ‘National Local Construction Industry: Strategies for Optimal Deployment for Engineering Professionals’, worried that the Executive Order 5(E05) recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari has not really favoured engineers.
The EO5 enables Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to engage indigenous professionals in the planning, design and execution of national security projects, as well as maximise in-country capacity in all contracts and transactions with components of science, engineering and technology.
While defending the capacity of local engineers, the Founder of NICE, Hamed Lawal, pointed out that the participation of foreign firms is vital to foster a competitive spirit.
According to Lawal, “We must appreciate the fact that competition enhances development. That we are talking about local content does not mean that we should do away with foreign content; the two must exist side by side so that we could make progress.
“We have restrained ourselves to local content. Even when some clients were asking if we had expatriates, we are always proud to say we are 100 percent Nigerian, although there are some jobs
Nigerians could not do, because our experience has not reached that stage.”
Also speaking, Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs. Aramide Adeyoye, stated that the theme of the forum was apt and a wakeup call to Nigerian engineers.
She said, “The recent Ikoyi building collapse portends good opportunity for us to go back to the basic and ask ourselves where did we go wrong? It starts from the public lecture. If we leave this public lecture and we end up going back to do the same thing, it would amount to another jamboree.”
