The Chairman of Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engineer Olutosin Ogunmola, has disclosed that the association is evolving ‘actionable plans’ for the nation’s transformation.
Ogunmola, who spoke at a press conference/media parley to usher in the 2022 Engineering Week in Lagos, urged professionals to adopt a sense of national responsibility for Nigeria’s growth.
The week-long event has the theme: “Taking Responsibility for Nigeria’s Transformation: The Imperatives for Engineers”.
Ogunmola said engineering was the bedrock of society and every nation’s growth depended on engineers as well as their leadership.
He said more engineers were being encouraged to go into politics to ensure more representation in the nation’s leadership, for formulation of policies that drive development.
The branch chairman urged the nation’s engineers to shun immediate gains and adopt a sense of national responsibility, towards setting an agenda that will leave positive development legacies in Nigeria.
“And indeed, if for us as a nation we must transform, it is only as engineers take up their sense of national responsibility,” he said.
Ogunmola said the NSE week was starting with a building collapse sensitisation workshop in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.
He said engineers would on Tuesday tackle issues of power because the sector holds the key to unlocking great potential for mass job creation in the nation.
“It will interest us to know that with the population of over 200 million people in Nigeria, that speaks to the market we have there, we are still unable to generate up to 10,000 megawatts of electricity, whereas the nation of India within two years was able to add 40,000 megawatts to their national grid.”
He said this took it up from 100,000 megawatts to 140,000 megawatts, while Nigeria, the largest nation of black people in the world, was not generating up to 10,000 megawatts.
“It calls for a great concern, and it is not beyond us,” he said.
He said nine panelists, including major electricity industry players and the NSE, would set up working groups with actionable plans to “break barriers” and address problems.
The NSE chairman said though electricity was on the exclusive list, engineers could sponsor bills through the National Assembly to “remove clogs in our wheel of progress”.
He said a Waste to Wealth Expo would hold on Thursday and the Society would seek private sector collaboration towards using Lagos State waste to generate electricity, among other things.
Ogunmola said Ikeja NSE would partner five major organisations in refuse management and waste economy to achieve positive results.
He said the NSE would bring private sector, professional bodies and government agencies together towards forging collaboration for manufacturing of building materials and other important components from wastes.
Ogunmola said the week-long programme also captured young engineers, to ensure mentorship towards curbing mass migration of youths and capital flight.
“The responsibility for taking Nigeria ahead lies with us, and we must get to a point that we must be upset about what we have built as a nation. We must get to a point that it does not just continue to attract us to jet out of the country for the least of medical attention.
“One of the challenges we have with the foreign exchange is because a good number of our young ones are running out of the country,” he said.
The chairman also reeled out other events lined up for the week towards deriving the” actionable plans” to drive the nation’s transformation.
