Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called on structural engineers to ensure precision and stability of building construction to check construction failures in Nigeria.

Sanwo-Olu spoke in Lagos at the opening of a two-day conference and 36th yearly general meeting of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers (NIStructE), with the theme ‘The Emerging Task for Structural Engineering Practice in Nigeria’.

The governor said structural engineering works must be delivered with safety, precision, reliability and integrity for the benefit of mankind. Represented by the Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mrs. Bimbo Akinajo, the governor noted that Lagos State Government aims at building a prosperous and investment-friendly city by ensuring that efficient, effective and sustainable policies are in place to provide an enabling environment for inclusive growth and drive direct foreign investment to us.

In his remarks, the immediate past president of NIStructE, Dr. Kehinde Osifala, decried frequent building collapse in the country, linking it to negligence, lack of subsoil probe, defective construction of foundation, use of substandard materials for structures, among others.

According to him, if the right materials are used and professionals are assigned for the job, it will curb building collapse in the country.
Osifala urged the NIStructE to partner with government agencies in the supervision and monitoring of construction works.

“There should be strict internal discipline of erring members of the profession,” she recommended, adding that there should be training and retraining of members of the structural engineering profession and others in the built environment through the Continuous Professional Development Programme (CPD), ” he added.

NIStructE President, Peter Osarodion Igbinijesu, in his welcome address, noted that the institution’s role is crucial in advancing the practice of structural engineering and construction practice in Nigeria.