NSE wants civil engineers to lead war against quacks in profession

Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu, president of the Nigerian Society of Civil Engineers (NSE), has tasked civil engineers to champion the war against quacks infiltrating the profession.

Mokuolu gave this task at the Investiture ceremony of Engr. (Mrs) Aishatu Umar as the 16th National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), in Abuja.

He said the activities of quacks have infiltrated the construction industry in particular, to the extent that it now poses threat to lives and properties as well as the image of the engineering family.

The NSE president urged the new leadership of NICE to “champion the war against unscrupulous elements that have been unleashed on the unsuspecting public.”

Mokuolu, who described Mrs Aishatu, the new NICE national chairman as an astute engineer, admonished her to achieve excellence be it in capacity building or advocacies acquisition of assets.

“I also challenge NICE in particular, and all our other related divisions, to identify the problems affecting their various sectors under their purview, and come up with possible solutions.” Mokuolu said.

In her address, Engr. Aishatu said her primary focus as the new chairman shall be to ensure and maintain the unity, peace and progress of the institution.

She said her action plans during her tenure shall be to ensure that the Abuja secretariat has enough competent secretarial staff to meet the growing needs of members.

The new NICE boss, who is the first woman in Nigeria to attain such position, further listed other action plans to include intensifying efforts on membership financial update and drive.

“We also intend to spread our revenue dragnets to workshops, seminars, public lectures, journal production and software training.

“I will look into the possibility of reinvigorating the activities of the NICE Ventures Ltd to help boost our financial base,” she said.

Aishatu maintained that as part of her action plan, her administration shall focus on tracking and legalizing the ownership of all NICE landed properties.

Among others, she said the continuing professional development of their members shall be her principal focus.

The lecture at the investiture was titled, “Civil Engineering Practice in the 21st Century: A podium for jobs creation.”

The lecture was delivered by Engr. Mohammed Jibrin, Director General, National Board for technical incubation.

In the lecture, Jibrin said that Nigerian civil engineers are yet to form many companies that supply readymade concrete on request.

He charged NICE on the need to facilitate greater synergy enhancing competitiveness on products and services.

Jibrin said either on the long or short term, he expected the entire civil engineering community in Nigeria to establish a working relationship simultaneously between government, industry and academia for policy directions that will go along with the nation’s industrial focus.

The immediate outgoing chairman of the NICE, Engr. Andem Bassey thanked all present for the encouragement and support given to him.

He said during his short tenure, they were able to relocate the NICE headquarters from Lagos to Abuja.

He said among other achievements, they successfully brought back due process in appointments as well as the successful implementation of all NICE programmes.

The investiture was well attended by professionals of the engineering profession, government representatives commissioners as well as erudite scholars from other fields etc.