Eggheads in the engineering profession from the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAEng) have tasked incoming administration at the Federal level to prioritise engineering, infrastructure and technological development across the country.
The experts spoke to The Guardian at a forum in Lagos, said government must retool all engineering laboratories in higher schools. They lamented that existing laboratories and engineering workshops in institutions were built about 30 years ago, whereas, technology is changing on a regular basis.
President of the academy, Prof. Peter Onwualu, said for the country to train the quality of engineers required to drive infrastructure, the Federal government must ensure an uninterrupted education system and end strikes in tertiary institutions.
Onwualu, who is also the acting President of African University of Science and Technology, Abuja, said Nigeria has not got it right over the years in the education/capacity sector.
“I know that some organisations and governments in the past have refurbished some laboratories, but things are changing, hence, every faculty of engineering..
Laboratories in Universities, Polytechnics or Colleges of Education must be refurbished in such a way that they will become modern and state-of-the-art facilities.
“Also, when students finish their training as engineers, they can spend like six months or one year in an engineering facility where they will learn everything that was not taught in school. So, we need
‘Engineering Finishing Schools’ to add to what the students must have learned under the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). The final training can be done in industrial hubs, manufacturing industries and science and technology parks/government establishments. This will enable the young engineers to master the art of engineering production in facilities,” Onwualu said.
Renowned chemical engineer and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Rahamon Bello, observed that Nigeria has a large number of engineers, who are not fully involved in engineering development, adding that new government must find a way of utilising local resources to solve Nigeria’s problems.
Bello, who doubles as the Academy’s Vice President, explained that there are challenges in the oil industry, civil engineering works, flooding issues and others, yet the engineering capacity is available.
He said government must come up with ideas on ways to utilise the local capacity to solve the challenges.
He said: “We rely on foreign firms to solve problems for us all the time. In the past, we have combined efforts between local and foreign companies, but we have jettisoned that and not really improving the capacity of building for local facilities. China uses its own resources to solve problems generally. The Federal Government Executive Order Five on promotion of local content in science, engineering and technology is very good but the way it was executed is what is important. There has to be enforcement and we need to use it to improve local content.”
The Foundation Dean, Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos, Prof. Ayodele Ogunye, said government must assemble the engineering academies in the country and challenge them on some items being imported from countries such as China.
A Professor of Mineral and Metallurgical Engineering, John Ajayi, emphasised the need for mineral resources development by government, advising that the authority must ensure professionalism by engaging technical people as ministers.
He also said the government must ensure synergy between the academy, industries and government, as well as, explore and extract minerals/invest massively on mining and agriculture.
“There must be aggressive manpower development in these key areas. Policy formulation must be value driven among engineers, academia, industry and the government,” Ajayi said.
A consulting engineer, Bayo Adeola, explained that all forms of developments in water, transportation, infrastructure and others are hinged on engineering; hence, the government must bring in engineers at the heart of every policy and production.
He said: “Core engineering must be at the centre of government. We will want water, and transportation in Nigeria to call engineers. Engineers must be at the cabinet and not seen as a fringe.”
Another member, Prof. Oluwafemi Taiwo, noted that it was regrettable for the government to say, engineers, are not capable of doing anything. He tasked the new administration to challenge the Nigerian engineers to carry out specific responsibilities and support them with funding to help the nation.
