Structural engineers have been urged to abandon outdated practices, embrace digital technology and ensure strict compliance with professional standards to deliver safe, resilient and sustainable infrastructure.

A former president of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE), Oreoluwa Fadayomi, made the call at the opening of the institution’s 2026 Conference and 39th Annual General Meeting, held at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Fadayomi said the future of infrastructure development depended on the profession’s ability to combine technological advancement with professional responsibility and effective regulation.

He said Nigeria needed to move beyond conventional approaches to structural engineering to address emerging infrastructure challenges and prevent recurring building collapses and structural failures.

Fadayomi identified engineering resilience, digital transformation and sustainable structural design as priorities for improving the safety, durability and performance of infrastructure. He also urged policymakers to focus on implementing policies rather than merely formulating them.

“A guideline becomes a safety improvement only when it changes practice,” he said.

Fadayomi urged engineers to adopt modern digital tools without neglecting the fundamental principles of the profession, stressing the importance of understanding the underlying structural and physical principles of engineering.

Earlier, NIStructE President, Taiwo Elegba, called for stronger structural engineering practice to address changing environmental conditions and the growing demands of infrastructure development.

Elegba urged practitioners to adopt digital tools, optimise the use of construction materials and explore innovative approaches to improve infrastructure resilience and sustainability.

He also stressed the need for collaboration with regulatory agencies and strict compliance with professional standards to ensure that buildings and other infrastructure were safe, stable and durable.

The President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and chairman of the occasion, Ali Rabiu, described engineers as custodians of public safety whose decisions had far-reaching implications for human lives, economic productivity and national development.

Represented by an engineer, Olayinka Alli, Rabiu expressed concern over recurring building collapses and structural failures, noting that such incidents could result in the loss of lives, livelihoods and investments.

He called for strict compliance with approved engineering standards at every stage of construction, from technical investigations and structural design to material selection, supervision, inspection and maintenance.

Rabiu also urged government agencies, building control authorities and professional regulatory bodies to strengthen enforcement of existing regulations and ensure that only qualified and competent professionals undertook responsibilities within their areas of expertise.