Consteng Limited is a Civil Engineering firm that has over the years earned a reputation for being able to execute a number of challenging projects to satisfactory completion. Engr. H.O.B. Lawal, the Managing Director/CEO of Consteng Limited is a firm believer in the principle of Total Quality Management (TQM), Management By Objective (MBO) and planning. The registered Chartered Civil Engineer (C.Eng); Fellow and Life Member of Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE) as well as a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain (FICE) and the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (FNICE) spoke on the Focus of CEO in this interview with Nnamdi Nwokolo and John Sylvester.

What influenced your choice of business?
Originally, I wasn’t cut out to study Engineering; I was to study medicine because I loved the way doctors hang stethoscope on their neck. I discovered after the release of our school certificate examination results that whereas I had excellent results in all sciences, it was only in biology that I had a credit. I didn’t find that funny, though it didn’t come to me as a surprise because I know that I don’t have the aptitude to concentrate and read for a long period of time, I’d rather prefer to work with figures. This was what made me to change my mind and course from Medicine to Civil Engineering. The choice of Civil is equally propelled by the desire to study a course that will equip any young man with the necessary tools to be self employed. To the glory of God ever since I took that decision, there had been no regrets.

About Consteng:
Upon graduation from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering with specialization in the design and construction of structural formwork systems, I started my career with the Dutch firm, Steven Group (comprising Messrs Roads Nigeria Limited; and Nigerian Dredging and Marine Limited) as a pupil Civil Engineer. I rose through the ranks in a challenging and inspiring career to become at one time or the other the Chief Engineer, Site Agent and Project Development Engineer before finally resigning honourably in 1980 to team up with fellow Nigerians to establish Moulds (Nig.) Limited, where I worked as the Pioneer Technical Director till the inception of Consteng Limited in 1982 where I function as the Managing Director/CEO since inception. Our Technical team comprises a group of experienced professionals who have been part of the giant strides recorded in the history of Civil Engineering in Nigeria.
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What has been the most challenging experience you encountered?
The biggest challenge that will stare any young entrepreneur in the face is the ability to gain the confidence of his clients. On our part, we were able to gain the confidence of our employers by delivering on our promises. Although it took time before that confidence can be established, but it really helped in establishing the company as a reliable organisation. The other challenge is how to source funds to finance your projects. I thank God we were able to overcome as the initial challenges were tough but the principles of trust, integrity, perseverance and excellent project delivery helped us to overcome. It must be mentioned that our financial capabilities and credit worthiness have never been in doubt as we were able to successfully execute all the legacy projects through our own direct resources and Bank assistance in millions of Naira.

From your experience, what are the factors critical to sustaining an enterprise?
The most important factor in any enterprise is that there must be trust among the partners. If trust is not part of your foundation, you better forget it. I realized in the first partnership we formed, that the basis of trust was eroded over time. It still pains me that I had to leave that partnership because I cannot work effectively in that kind of environment and at the point of leaving; I made it clear that by my nature, I cannot work in an environment of distrust. We should be able to trust ourselves to be able to move ahead, but it’s ok, because it is part of the experience I encountered in life. Project execution and delivery is a critical factor of success in our industry. There is no excuse to abandon a project and we thank God that we have never abandoned any project in the life of this company.

Outstanding achievements of Consteng Nigeria Limited:
Consteng Nigeria Limited has embarked on so many great projects, but the major breakthrough we had in 1987-88 was the construction of Oreta, Igbogbo federal highway. We are happy that we were able to deliver on the project to the satisfaction of our client. Those who were instrumental to giving the project to Consteng were very much satisfied with our expertise and real time delivery of the project and it served as referral to so many jobs that have been done by the company. Our past projects embrace design and construction of all aspects of Civil Engineering works, including highways, bridges and geo-technical works, surveys and urban/rural development; all undertaken in different parts of the country. We are indeed very proud to have been very involved in bridging the gap between urban and rural developments in Nigeria. Our Artisans are among the most experienced and dedicated in the profession today. Over time they have been oriented towards quality and dedicated to beating deadlines.

How do you attract and retain the best talents?
Human capital development is very necessary to the successful running of an organisation. We have many institutions training Civil Engineers and are churning out graduates every year but the challenge is that most of these people while in school do not heed the advice of their parents to take their studies seriously. The result is that they leave the training institutions with weak passes and the reality will stare them in the face when they enter the labour market. All the same, we are able to develop a kind of quality work force over the years. You’ll be surprised to know that we have employees that have put in more than twenty years in this organisation. Apart from the young engineers, nobody has spent less than ten years in this organisation because of the opportunity given to them to discover and develop their potentials to the fullest. The Engineers of Consteng Limited can boast of a combined experience of more than forty-five years in Architecture, Engineering and Construction.

Assessment of the industry in terms of global competition:
In terms of global competition, I don’t think Nigerian Engineers are doing badly; the only problem which I think most of us are facing is that we don’t seem to get enough encouragement from the government. They are trying but they need to do more to encourage indigenous companies to undertake civil engineering works. We’ve had many situations where at the end of open tenders, they will jettison all that has been done and pick a foreign contractor to do the job. There is nothing wrong in picking a foreign contractor to execute a project, but the process of bidding should be made more transparent. This is one of the challenges facing indigenous companies but I think, we’ll overcome, over time.

In five Years:
We pray that when the economy improves, our clients will be glad to have us partners in the execution of their projects. No company exists in isolation, there is recession now. The economy is key to what we do and we pray that it rebounds and the moment it does, the company will continue to grow in leaps and bounds. We’ll always maintain our culture of excellence, trust, confidence.

How do you relax?
I cannot operate in an environment where people are not humourous. The major relaxation point is through cracking jokes with whoever I socialize with. Don’t forget that over the years, I identify with the community and the less privileged through philanthropy and membership of the International Association of Lions Clubs and alumni association. I am a proud recipient of many local and international awards including the first ever-coveted District Governor Excellence Award of Lions Clubs International (1993/94) in the West African sub region.