Earlyface

Bello made the observation on Tuesday at the 2017 Annual Lecture/Awards and Induction ceremony of the Lagos Branch of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).The event held in Unilag, Akoka, Yaba.

The vice chancellor was represented by the university’s Director of Works and Physical Planning, Dr Adelere Adeniran.

He called for increased funding of vocational training schools to develop middle level manpower which, he said, was lacking in the construction industry.

He said that quackery was in the increase because Shylock businessmen have taken over the role of vocational institutions and are churning out half-baked artisans.

Bello noted that artisans without requisite skills were not allowed to practise in developed countries, regretting that the reverse had been the case in Nigeria where they paraded themselves as engineers.

He also said that inadequate government attention on the development of vocational schools had made some students with insufficient intelligence to acquire university education at all cost.

“The implication is that those who would have made good craftsmen parade themselves as engineers,’’ he said.

Bello urged resuscitation of vocational training to provide skilled middle-level manpower needed for the engineering profession to have a complete chain of professionals.

In his lecture, the Acting General-Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency, Mr Oladotun Lasoju, urged Lagos residents to partner with the state government to fish out quacks and report illegal activities causing building collapse.

He urged engineers to monitor their projects from design to completion to ensure that developers would not cut corners to compromise quality.

Lasoju said that regulatory agencies in the state were working in synergy to ensure adequate regulation and law enforcement to stop building collapse and ensure proper planning of the environment.

“The Lagos State Government is leaving no stone unturned toward ensuring that an end is put to this problem.

“That is why, as individuals and groups, we need to partner with the government,” he said.

The Chairman, Lagos Branch, Nigerian Institute of Building, Mrs Adenike Said, urged building professionals to collaborate to end building collapse.

Said called on the NSE to carry artisans along in seminars and trainings in order to enlighten them on professional standards to stem building collapse.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bello, Adeniran and Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos received the Lagos NSE Awards for Excellence for contributions to the growth of engineering.