As part of efforts to ensure that Nigeria’s budding engineers gain practical exposure to the realities of their profession, a construction firm, Metrospeed has hosted Civil Engineering students from Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) at the Metro Smart City Project site in Lekki, Lagos State.

During the visit to the expansive 97-hectare lagoon-front development, the students experienced firsthand the practical side of engineering beyond the walls of their classrooms and the pages of their textbooks.

The excursion was organised by Geotechnical Engineering lecturer and Chief Executive Officer of the Engineering Resource Academy, Dr Omolola Adetona.

According to her, the field trip was organised to give the students firsthand experience of large-scale construction projects and enable them to relate the theories learned in class to real-world engineering practice.

“Over the years, we’ve discovered that young engineers are not living up to expectations as compared with sustainability of our profession,” Adetona stated.

She explained that the visit was to show students that civil engineering was a living, evolving discipline that extended far beyond lecture notes and whiteboards.

For Metrospeed Group’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Emike Ntiokiet, the visit was about inspiring the next generation of engineers as it was about showcasing the company’s vision.

She challenged the students to think beyond the industry’s status quo, arguing that Lagos’s expanding population and mounting housing deficit demanded a fundamentally different approach to development.

“In the nearest future, it’s not going to be enough to just have a structure. What will stand out are your infrastructures, not just the beautiful houses anymore.

At the project site, Abdulhameed Salahudeen reinforced the message, making the case for more frequent industry exposure among engineering undergraduates and recommending project site visits at least three times per semester.