As part of its key role to benefit society, through the application of safer, cleaner, and more efficient infrastructure, the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN) has reiterated the commitment of Nigeria’s consulting engineering professionals to the nation’s infrastructural development, especially in view of current economic challenges.
Speaking at its 44th annual conference, ACEN’s President, Ajibade Oke stated that the sustainability of the nation’s infrastructure development will ensure the stable growth of her economy and even with the global impact of COVID-19 on businesses, including the consulting engineering practice, the critical role of consulting engineers as prime movers in the infrastructural development of Nigeria cannot be overemphasised.
He urged collaboration among stakeholders in the built industry and with relevant government agencies to take full advantage of Presidential Executive Order 5.
In his keynote address themed, “The Role of Consulting Engineers in Infrastructural Development in a Recessed Economy,” Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, stated that despite going through two recessions in the last six years, Nigeria’s economy has survived.
While acknowledging that the first recession was predicted in 2014 by the Finance Minister at the time, Fashola noted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s commitment to massive infrastructure, as evidenced by its nearly increased capital budget, is one of the strategies that mitigated the effect, and quickly grew the economy.
Also, the President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Ali Rabiu, noted that engineers have a critical role to play in the infrastructure development and economy of the nation.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria, (CORBON), Samson Opaluwah, represented by Bldr Adenike Saheed, acknowledged the conference’s carefully-chosen theme which he referred to as ‘most appropriate, given the current state of the Nigerian economy with a high level of inflation and stagnation.
