The Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, has urged Nigerian engineers to seek more productive and excellent endeavours instead of engaging in unnecessary rancour.
Aregbesola spoke on Thursday at the University of Lagos during the investiture of Mrs. Joanna Maduka as the president of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering. The event also witnessed the conferment of Life Achievement Awards and the induction of new fellows of the academy.
The governor, who frowned on the acrimony in the polity, particularly the politicisation of religion in his state, urged engineers to be more involved in the socio-economic and technological growth of the nation.
He advised them to apply their energy and knowledge into ventures that would uplift the country as well as better the society in general.
Nigerian engineers, he added, should be concerned with ideas that would jumpstart the country’s technological development instead of depending on the importation of goods.
According to him, engineers are still relevant and shall continue to play significant roles in ensuring that the nation’s economy grows.
Aregbesola, who described the Osun State-born new NAE president as a rare breed, said she ventured into engineering when many men were afraid of the profession.
Speaking, Maduka urged members of the academy to be more committed to the profession, advising them to use their knowledge and experiences to provide advice to the government and the business community on technological issues.
According to the first female NAE president, technology plays a key role in the successful implementation of socio-economic initiatives to meet the needs of the country and the global community.
She added, “We need to concern ourselves with such issues as global warming and climate change, the concept of Earth Systems Engineering that has evolved to define the direction of multidisciplinary process development, new frontiers in technology and engineering such as nanotechnology, advanced materials, petrochemicals, robotics and advances in biotechnology. Although some of these may sound remote in the Nigerian context, we should be mindful of developing sustainable engineering solutions that will positively affect our social, cultural, environmental and economic development for the future.”
The President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Nike Akande; President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Kashim Ali and the Director General/Chief Executive, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Dr. Gloria Elemo, are among eminent persons that attended the ceremony.
At the ceremony where the co-author of the MITI, Mr. Martin Brack, delivered a lecture titled, “Master Plan for an Integrated Transportation Infrastructure,” four members of the academy, who have attained the age of 75, received the Life Achievement Awards. They are the new NAE president, Dr. Tajudeen Bawa-Allah, Prof. Patrick Ngoddy and Ebenezer Osoba.
Eleven persons were inducted as fellows of the academy. They are professors Folorunsho Akinbode, Christian Bolu, Frank Okafor, Joshua Otaigbe, Oluwafemi Taiwo and Ayodeji Demuren.
Others are a former Minister of Mines, Power and Steel, Bunu Sheriff Musa, Sunday Adetunji, Clement Oke, Dr. Reuben Okeke, and Dr. Ehimhanre Uujamhan.