Engineers lament incessant collapses, advocate local content

Structural engineers, under the aegis of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStrustE), have lamented the increasing infrastructural collapses in the country.

They said that the menace had persisted because of the non-involvement of structural engineers and lack of enforcement of regulations guiding building sector.

President of NIStrustE, Johnson Adegboyega Adeoye, gave the lamentation, at the weekend, during a media briefing on the investiture of NIStrustE’s 22nd President scheduled for tomorrow, April 16, 2024, in Ikeja, Lagos.

Adeoye, who spoke on the merit of the investiture’s lecture, titled: “Civil/Structural Engineers and the Burden of Infrastructural Collapses in Nigeria,” to be delivered by Prof. Ikponmwosa Efe Ewaen of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), said that many building collapses recently that killed people in Nigeria could have been avoided if NIStrustE members were involved.

He said that the event, to be chaired by President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Margaret Ogunlola, would help to highlight the importance of engaging qualified and certified engineers in construction works to save the nation the misery of losing lives and property.

Adeoye lamented the lack of implementation of the regulations in the built environment, which he said, had left many to cut corners and subject many to dangers.

He, therefore, called on the government to give professionals the liberty to regulate and persecute those undermining their space.

According to him, the nation’s building regulation requires that only Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) certified structural engineers should engaged in the construction of high-rise structures and bridges.

He, however, urged the government to do more in enforcing laws regulating construction works.

Besides, on the controversy over the coastal road project, the NIStrustE president lamented that neither the institution nor its members were consulted in the project.

He said that while structural engineers are not condemning it, the priority of such a humongous project at a time when many Nigerians are wallowing in poverty is questionable.

Adeoye, therefore, called for collaboration between government and professionals in the built environment to ensure implementation of the local content law as well as strict enforcement of building regulations.

On his part, the Deputy President of the institution, Dr Taiwo Elegba, questioned the government’s sincerity in ensuring the implementation of Executive Order 5,which promotes local content in the construction section.
He stressed that the lack of patronage of indigenous engineers in most government projects negates the spirit of Executive Order 5.

He, therefore, called on the government to ensure that Nigerian professionals are always involved in contract agreements in the spirit of the local content law.