The Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has reiterated its commitment to play leading roles in the construction sector to eliminate poor building construction and save the nation from incessant building collapse.
President, Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Oladipupo Ajayi lamented the incursion of the sector by quacks and those without sufficient knowledge to undertake the complexities of building.
In a chat with The Nation over the weekend while reviewing the council’s activities in the last two years, he hailed the Federal Government for her approval for the association to commence the development of its Abuja office and the massive refurbishment of their Lagos office for optimum service to the public.
He recalled that Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, inaugurated the current ARCON council on June 12, 2018 in Abuja.
He bemoaned the inability of the architects’ regulatory body to get an office of its own, though it has been in existence since 1969 and promised to put machineries in place towards solving the age-long challenge.
He however said the dream of a self-owned building was already coming true as ARCON had just gotten recertification of a landed property allocated to it by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).
“We wish to inform you that the council was allocated two plots of land at the Jabi District of the Federal Capital Territory in 1999 like other regulatory bodies in the built environment. The council, just like all other regulatory bodies, was affected by the activities of the land speculators. However, it is gratifying to note that the current council has successfully retrieved the land and would commence development. Members of the council have made personal commitments in terms of monetary, material and moral contributions towards the immediate commencement development”, Ajayi said.
Appreciating the Minister of FCTA, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, Ajayi said the recertification could not have come at a better time than now.
The ARCON president also thanked Fashola, his Minister of State, Abubakar Aliyu, an engineer, the ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr. Mohammed Bukar for ensuring quick approval to renovate its Lagos office.
He revealed that the renovation of the Lagos office, a bungalow from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, is being undertaken by the supervising Ministry.
Ajayi said upon completion, both offices will be fully automated, befitting modern day architectural practice.
“The council was dubbed a council of change because we wanted to move architecture into the digitalized world. We have successfully put in place a portal that would serve the council better in this regard,” Ajayi said.
Source: thenationonlineng
