Engineers have decried their exclusion from government’s capital projects despite repeated calls for a change.
They noted that indigenous engineers had not been given the opportunity to partake in mega infrastructural projects while foreign firms had been getting the jobs.
An engineer, Kunle Oyesanya, at a ceremony to mark the World Engineering Day in Lagos, said the government had not been partnering local firms to build sustainable infrastructure.
“We need to preserve our citizens by giving them good roads, water and other basic amenities to make life sustainable,” he said.
According to Oyesanya, civil engineering is the mother of all the various sections of the profession which makes it the forefront of sustainable development.
Another engineer, Ajose Otinwa, said engineering should not always cost billions of naira.
“There are other options, such as using indigenous firms in our local currency,” he stated.
He explained that generations unborn should meet the infrastructure that had been put in place, adding that Nigerian engineers should take charge as most jobs were preferably given to foreign firms.
A logistics expert, Mrs Folake George, said engineers should always be involved in all spheres of the economy.
George said most Nigerian leaders were more comfortable with foreigners handling jobs compared to local firms who might not dance to their tunes.
She lamented that Nigerian engineers did not have the enabling environment to practise and operate, adding that there was a need to step up advocacy.
The World Engineering Day was organised by Construction and Engineering Digest, with the theme, ‘Engineering for sustainable development’ to stimulate conversations and seek solutions to issues affecting the profession.
The Chief Executive Officer, Century21 Systems communication Limited, Kenneth Odushola-Stevenson, said the World Engineering Day was created by the UN through UNESCO to acknowledge the achievements of engineering and its importance for sustainable development.
“We need a sustainable world. Climate change is a global challenge that engineers can solve by building a sustainable city,” he added.
The guest speaker, and Chairman KOA Consultants Limited, Kunle Ogunbayo, said engineers and engineering were critical for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
He stated that Nigeria was not doing enough to achieve a better environment, adding that with climate change, it had become important to encourage innovation in engineering.
He said, “Engineering has solutions for all aspects of the economy. Engineers can come up with a good platform that politicians cannot crack.”
Ogunbayo said indigenous engineers had the knowledge and capacity to compete with foreign firms, adding that they could undertake all projects like their foreign counterparts.
Source: punchng
