Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has urged the federal government to encourage the deployment of practising engineers to man strategic positions in government requiring considerable technical know-how.
President of the NSE, Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, who spoke during the Biennial Distinguished Lecture Series of the organisation, tagged “ The 28th October Lecture,” stressed that non-engineers were being appointed to take over engineering-related spots.
“We find out that engineers and engineering practitioners have been neglected in the affairs of this country. You have a Minister of Works and Housing who is a lawyer.
“You have Minister of Communications who is very close to engineering but he is not an engineer. Minister of Water Resources is an engineer and so many ministries are engineering base. But why can’t you bring in somebody who is from that field who will be able to deliver,” he queried.
Being a very vast field of learning, he noted that there’s no segment within the profession that the government will not find its potential employees.
“Let there be a round peg in a round hole. Let the government understand that everything about governance and politics centre on infrastructural development.
“You cannot get infrastructural development by neglecting engineers. So, if we want this country to grow in infrastructure, we just have to get the right people. So, the engineers must be involved. Other technologists must be involved” he explained.
He highlighted the cases of China and the United States which have a large percentage of engineers in government.
Also, the keynote speaker and a fellow of NSE, Dr. Otis Anyaeji, in a presentation titled: ‘’Advocacy and Activism in our Engineering DNA’’ proposed the revamping of the Ajaokuta Steel.
He argued that the injection of N701 billion would generate N809.56 billion profit over 10 years, averaging an N80 billion profit/year over the period on a 30:70 ratio public/private participation basis.
“This is very crucial, being another significant and consistent effort by the Nigerian Society of Engineers to further argue for ways of adding value to local resources and thereby create jobs at this difficult period.
“In doing this, the investments on ground at Ajaokuta would be taken into due consideration on the public side. In other words, the real cash injection by the government may not actually be more than N100 billion at the end of the day in cash,” he explained.
