The Nigerian Society of Engineers has advocated for level 10 entry points for engineers and blamed the terrible state of internal roads on poor maintenance culture.
The NSE President Engr. Margaret Oguntala stated this in Abuja at the 2024 pre-conference and annual general meeting briefing on Tuesday.
She said the 2024 conference with the theme “Pioneering Engineering Solutions to Nigeria’s Climate and Food Security Challenges” will focus on “Sustainable Engineering Solutions to Food Security and Climate Change,” addressing issues central to the nation’s future.
Commenting on the incessant national grid collapse in the country, she said addressing the grid collapse was about investment, investing in the power sector and also looking at renewable energy.
“There is a clear deficit in electricity that is available to the citizens. The demand is definitely higher than the supply but with more deliberate investment and more attention being paid to the power sector, I’m sure a lot more can be achieved. I think an Engineer as a minister of power could improve the situation because he will have more knowledge and expertise,”
Oguntala said Nigerian Engineers were prepared by training to transition from bitumen or asphalt roads to concrete pavement,adding that the society has developed infrastructure scorecards and transmitted the same to some state Governors for action.
Oguntala commenting on the ongoing legacy projects embarked upon by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration said “our internal roads are in terrible shape and needs urgent attention”
She said failure of infrastructure across the country was not the fault of Engineers but poor routine maintenance.
She said “the government needs to be more intentional in building infrastructure. It is not enough to build infrastructure, there should be scheduled maintenance of the same infrastructure,” she said.
