March 05, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ebonyi State branch, has called on the government at all levels to support indigenous engineers and stop looking outside the shores of the country.
Speaking during the 2024 World Engineering Day in Abakaliki on the theme, “Engineering Solutions for a Sustainable World”, and sub-theme, “Ebonyi: Looking at the Challenges Facing the State and How Engineering Will Solve the Problem”, the Chairman of NSE, Ebonyi State branch, Engineer Enyinnaya Eni, said the event was organised to celebrate the achievements of engineers and promote the public knowledge of engineers among others.
According to him, engineering has contributed so much to the development of Ebonyi State and Nigeria at large, especially in one of the most difficult areas facing the country – road infrastructure.
Enyinnaya said, “Let me congratulate engineers all over the world, especially my fellow engineers in Ebonyi State. I want to say today is our day and it is important to us. In the wisdom of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, they have chosen today to celebrate the achievements of engineers.
“And here in Ebonyi State, we are doing same to tell the public that engineering has something to offer the masses in making sure that some of the needs that are confronting them can be solved through engineering. To be an engineer is not an easy task because on a daily basis, we are confronted with many challenges and we are always on our toes to solve them to ensure that the masses enjoy themselves.
“The engineers, on a daily basis, are working hard to ensure that we have motorable roads to the level that the government is supporting them. Here in Ebonyi State, we are privileged to have an engineer as the past executive governor. All of us can see what he left on ground. We have not seen flyovers in Ebonyi State before but he made it possible.
“Today, we have flyovers all over Ebonyi State. In fact, I was told that before now, Ebonyi State was known as the dust of the nation because of the poor access road in the state. But today, Ebonyi is a tourist centre. If you want to see good roads, come to Ebonyi. I can tell you that the concrete rigid pavement started here in Ebonyi State courtesy of the engineer governor that left and today, they are all over the state.
“And the present government has continued from where he stopped. If you go around the state, you will see road construction of concrete rigid pavement. One thing I must tell you is that these projects are being carried out by our local engineers. No expatriates are doing it.
“One of the challenges confronting us as a nation is the availability of reliable energy. But engineers, on a daily basis, are doing their best to ensure that we have power at our doorstep. They need to be supported by the government because they (engineers) are not the ones making the policies. They only carry out the policies.
“You have not heard where engineers down tools. Nobody has heard that engineers are on strike. This is to tell you the place of engineers in the society because if the engineers should down their tools for one hour, the whole nation will be grounded. Nothing will work in any sector you can think of.
“So, in the power sector, you see what the engineers are doing in transmission, in distribution; they are shouldered by Nigerian engineers. So, we are doing a lot. If you go to the agricultural sector, you will see engineers who are leading the pace to make sure that our agricultural sector transitions from the traditional method to the commercial agricultural method using machines and equipment.
“In the water sector today we have water running in our pipes in Ebonyi State. When the new government came on board, they said we want water to run. Who are those that are being challenged? The engineers. They quickly ran to the drawing board and began to look at what was faulty. Today, we have seen water running in Ebonyi State over a few months and they are doing as we are talking to ensure that we have quality water in our homes
“Nigerian engineers are the best brains you can have anywhere in the world. Anywhere you put a Nigerian engineer, give him the same level of training as an expatriate and he will outperform even the white people. But the problem is on the government supporting their own, that is what we have been clamouring for all over the years. The Nigerian government should stop looking outwards, they should look inwards.
“Every state and every nation that has developed will always look inward to develop their technical people instead of importing technology. Now, engineering is capital-intensive. On an individual basis, it is hard to develop this concept. The government must come in to begin to give leverage to the local engineers to develop their potential. This has been lacking. The Nigerian government has not been able to support its own, especially engineering, to develop.
“What today’s programme stands to address is to tell the government and the industry that this is the time to embrace local engineers. This is the time to invest in our local content,” he stated.
Speaking on the rigid pavement road, Victor Afoke, a civil engineer, said, “When you want to initiate a project, there are a lot of things to be considered. If you look at cost, you will look at the soil content – how the soil behaves, so many criteria. That is a guide for an engineer to decide on a particular road in an area. In our country Nigeria, what we look at is whether is it cheap or expensive and how durable is it. We do not consider other areas.
“The issue is that a concrete road is more durable. But when it is not properly installed, it becomes a problem for the users. On most of the concrete roads in Ebonyi, you cannot carry a patient who is due for an operation because there will be vibration. And these vibrations are not good even for the passengers. But in the situation that we find ourselves, something that is bad is good for us. The rigid pavement you find here is what you find in other places.
“We are advising the government, whatever type of road the government wants to embark on they should make sure they meet all the criteria laid down for that road to be installed.”
The Vice Chairman of NSE, Engineer Innocent Ogochukwu, described the concrete technology in the country as just the pouring of concrete on a surface that is not rigid.
“The problem with Nigeria is that we copy but we do not copy very well. Concrete road is done by the people who have the means to do it. One is that Nigeria cannot start building concrete roads if we are doing the correct concrete road. What we are doing is just pouring concrete on a surface that is not rigid enough. All concrete roads are designed to reflect load and the bearing capacity of the area,” he said.
Another Engineer, Dr. Jeff Ogbu, said they are trying to showcase to the world how they can use engineering processes and procedures to tackle problems sustainably.
Also speaking, the Desk Officer, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Ebonyi State chapter, Mrs. Onyekachi Innocent, called on the government at all levels to support the NSE.
“As we are celebrating all over the world, I want to appeal to the government to please partner with engineers, support them and give them the privilege to do what they are supposed to do. They should be respected and stop giving quack engineers their duties. We have a lot of civils, mechanical, craftsmen all kinds of engineers in Nigeria,” she said.
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