Being a text of Presentation titled ADVOCACY & ACTIVISM IN OUR ENGINEERING DNA Being a Presentation by HR Engr. Otis Anyaeji KtSGG FAEng, Obi Onowu II n’Okija (Traditional Head of Ubahu-Okija), 30th President, The Nigerian Society of Engineers at 2022 October Lecture. Made as Part of the Collection Themed “WISDOM OF THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS On the Occasion of NSE OCTOBER LECTURE On October 7th, 2022
Continued from Part 1 part 2 and Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
In August 1989 when the Federal Ministry of Works & Housing indicated it was fashioning out a Federal Building Code for exclusive and concurrent legislative application, we registered our satisfaction with that move.
While congratulating them, we quickly added that the draft “Federal Building Code” pamphlet which they made available to the Society at most contained the essence of a comprehensive “Federal Building Code”. It was stated that we believed that elaboration of regulations for the control of all matters pertaining to construction, alteration, addition, repair, removal, demolition, use location, occupancy and maintenance of buildings shall be taken up shortly.
Relying on the work started under the Presidency of Engr. Ife Akintunde FAEng, FMW&H was informed that NSE had during the past two years (1987 – 88) conceptualized the framework of a Building Code for Nigeria, for control of all matters relating to existing and proposed buildings and structures.
We reasoned that the document to be produced would be one that provides regulations for Administration and Enforcement, Use Group Classifications, Types of Construction Classification, Special Use and Occupancy Requirements, Ventilation, Lighting, Sound Transmission Control, Means of Egress & Ingress, Structured Loads and Stresses, Foundation Systems and Geotechnical Considerations, Materials, Fire Sensitive Requirements, Mechanical Equipment and Systems, Electric Wiring Equipment etc.
Our agreement with the new definition of Approval Authority was registered, especially on the aspect that now recognizes the multidisciplinarity the statutory control function in building.
Because of the geological and earthquake problems observed in the country about that time (particularly the tremor in Ogun State, and earth cracks/soil erosions in many states) we recommended strongly the inclusion of geological and earthquake engineering reports in the list of documents to be submitted by prospective developers.
7.1 AMENDMENTS SUGGESTED TO PROPOSED FEDERAL BUILDING CODE
We recommended that submission of Documents should be done in three stages to wit, (i) Site Data/Design Basis, (ii) Preliminary Drawings/Outline Specifications, and (iii) Working Drawings/Final Specifications.
For example, on Site data/Design Basis stage, we recommended the report shall contain information on preliminary surveys, geologic/earthquake engineering information, climatic condition, wind pattern, ambient conditions to be used for design, facing directions of windows (relative to sun), public utilities, tie-in points etc.
The preliminary drawings of the proposed building are to come with data on any existing building on the site, and the relationships of various structures or services existing and proposed.
The design program wherein brief explanations of the functions and services of the proposed facility are provided including occupancy (no. of persons, or quantity of goods to be accommodated).
Recommended information for this final stage ought to include geotechnic report, architectural drawings, structural drawings, mechanical drawings, electrical drawings, specifications/regulations/standards, title block, reference point, period of limitation, signatures required.
Some of these recommendations were factored into the National Building Code, some are yet to be adopted and incorporated.
8.0 LETTER TO HON. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION ON NSE’S POSITION ON THE COMPANIES AND ALLIED MATTERS DECREE 1990
After the Society presented the ‘Minority Report on the DELIBERATIONS OF THE CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY ON THE REFORM OF COMPANIES LAW’ to the Hon. AGF, we were expectant that some of our prayers would be accepted into the amendments to be made to the Companies & Allied Matters Decree No. 1 1990.
The AGF then told me that he would soon be leaving for the World Court, The Hague, but that he would grant all the Society’s prayers that had merit.
He finally said I should reduce our discussion that afternoon to writing. I promptly did. Excerpts from that letter dated 10th August 1990 repay reading.
“… 4 We discussed earlier today.
We also discussed in April 1989 when the Society formally presented to your goodself the Minority Report on the Deliberations of the Consultative Assembly on the Reform of Companies Law, and on that occasion the Hon. Attorney General gave his word that the matters canvassed before him in that minority report would be redressed before promulgation of the new Companies Decree.
The unintentional failure to incorporate the amendments requested by the Society has inevitably constrained her to the suppliant position she was in while presenting the petition on original basis eighteen months ago.
4.1.1Engineer to be Recognised as Valuer
Sec. 137 of Decree No.1 1990 defines ‘Valuer’ for the purposes of determining the true value of the consideration other than cash for payments for shares as “an Auditor, a valuer, a surveyor, or an accountant …”
For the same purpose Sec. 554 of the same decree recognizes experts for the preparations of prospectus inviting person to subscribe for securities in a company as
“Every Engineer, legal practitioner, accountant and any other person whose profession gives authority to a statement made by him.”
The statements expected of an Engineer by virtue of Sec. 554 are those of valuation/appraisal of property.
The Hon. Attorney General is to note that the Companies Act of 1968 did not have an equivalent of Sec. 137 of the Companies & Allied Matters Decree of 1990.
The practice of valuation for investment and balance sheet purposes was based on Sec. 41 of the 1968 law which to a very great extent is identical with Sec. 554 of the 1990 law.
For consistency with Sec. 554 and fairness, the Nigerian Society of Engineers urges that ‘Engineer’ be included in the definition of ‘valuer’ in Section 137 (6) of Decree No. 1 1990.
The Hon. Attorney General is to further note the facts on engineering valuation and the valuation Engineer as stated by the following authorities/sources:
(i) Marston, A. et.al in “Engineering Valuation and Depreciation” hereby attached as “EXHIBIT 1” vide page 2
(ii) Hughes B.V. in “Oil Property Valuation” hereby attached as “EXHIBIT 2” vide pg. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11.
4.1.2 Section 56 Foreign Engineering Companies to Incorporate in Nigeria
The Nigerian Society of Engineers requests the expurgation of sub-section 56(a) which encourages foreign firms to apply to the National Council of Ministers to be granted the freedom to carry out engineering and technical consultancy and specialist business in Nigeria without being registered locally while Section 54 precludes such freedom in all other businesses.
The Society had earlier stated that it would be impossible for Nigeria to achieve self-reliant economic development if all her engineered works are by her own laws to be carried out to the exclusion of the Nigerian Engineers or Technologists.
Anybody who read the Daily Times of Monday July 9, 1990 page 24, the advertisement on the “National Committee on Engineering Infrastructure”, would have gleaned therefrom that the Federal Government has finally decided that Nigerians should participate in the Nigerian Engineering Industries Sectors.
To quote from the terms of reference of the Committee –
“… To draw up the Blue-Print for the provision of a national engineering infrastructure by identifying the essential engineering materials, scientific equipment, energy equipment, engineering accessories, workshop tools etc which must be made readily available in the Nigerian market in order to provide the required inputs for equipment and machine design, fabrication and copy engineering and to present the discrete industries which must be established for the mass-production of these capital goods, based on the utilization of local raw materials …”
It is clear that the noble intentions of these terms of reference for self-reliance in Engineering will be frustrated by the provision in the Companies Decree which encourages offshore engineering consultancy.
It is the reasoned position of the Society that the membership of the Corporate affairs Commission should be expanded to include:
“One representative of the Engineering profession appointed after consultation with the Nigerian Society of Engineers.”
As Nigeria is moving from a mercantilist economy, companies’ regulation (legislation and administration) becomes too complicated to be left entirely to lawyers, accountants and secretaries who are by training and function service oriented. The contributions of science and technology experts who on the other hand are operations oriented, in the law making, policy formulation, and administration on Companies Law Matters are indispensable and unquantifiable.
The implication of this denial of technical representation is that in administration and monitoring of enforcement of the provisions of the Companies Decree, accountants, lawyers, secretaries, investors etc would sit in judgement over the performance of technical operators, and proceed to propose amendments or subsidiary legislations without so much as listening to the opinions, and considering from a position of knowledge, the interests of the technical operators of the majority of companies in Nigeria.
5.0 Hon. Attorney General Sir, we commend these sensitive matters of injustice to your equitable hands for redress. And redress needs to be swift in coming for the following reasons:
5.1 Any companies’ law incorporates a section that defines who is competent to make statements to be included in prospectuses detailing information on the securities in a company for reasons of fraud prevention. A situation were a person trained to estimate land and buildings exploits the omission of Engineer, and the tautological inclusion of surveyor/valuer, and auditor/accountant, in Sec. 137 to attempt to value plant, machinery, factories, industrial plants, engineering constructions of all kinds, public utilities etc. opens and sustains a season of mass deception and defrauding which equity cannot afford to just fold its arms and watch with unconcern. The guidelines for valuation issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) of UK clearly forbid surveyors from including process machinery and equipment in valuation of premises. Copy of relevant pages of RICS guidelines is attached as EXHIBIT 3. The Workshop on Companies and Allied Matters Decree No.1 1990 organised by the Department of Commercial Law of the University of Lagos in June 1990 did recommend in their communique that Engineers be recognised as valuer.
5.2 Nigeria is a developing country and is only at this time 1990 attempting to switch from a wealth sharing national ethic to a wealth creation economy. Wealth creation is intensively engineering, and fostering of the wealth creation process is the function of the Companies legal instruments of which Decree No. 1 1990 is avante-garde. To foster an engineering process properly, those administering the fostering function e.g. the Corporate Affairs Commission should include Engineers. To do otherwise now would only lead to the false start recorded after eighteen years with the 1968 experiment.
The Engineer, scientists, and technologists must be integrated with the legal environment if your well known dream on socio-economic reform through law is to find fulfillment.
The corollary of course is that even the Law Reform Commission at the threshold of our second attempt at national development should include at all levels scientists (not only social) and Engineers …
We rest our case.
But here we are humble petitioners at the feet of equity himself, with our arms outstretched confident of receiving justice at the fair and firm hands of the CHIEF LAW OFFICER OF THE FEDERATION.
Three days later, on 13th August, 1990, I forwarded the minority report to all the engineer ministers, and requested them to urge their cabinet colleague to quickly carry out the amendments to CAMA Decree No.1 1990 sought by the Society. The Engineer ministers took action. For example, the Minister of Industries, Engr. AVM M. Yahaya FNSE wrote to me as Secretary General NSE on 19th September, 1990 Ref. n0 IDDC/01/S.77/75 informing that his Ministry supports our views on the Companies and Allied Matters Decree, 1990, and that the Ministry had communicated its support to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice for consideration.
His counterpart in the Ministry of Science & Technology, Engr. Prof. Gordian Ezekwe FAS FNSE put me in copy of his letter Ref. FMST/NSS/726/III/416 dated 14th September 1990 to the Hon. AGF indicating the Ministry’s support on the amendments sought by NSE in the decree.
All these moves combined to get the AGF to amend the Decree vide Decree No. 46, 1991, to grant Engineering professions a seat on the Corporate Affairs Commission, Sec. 2; and include Engineer in the definition of ‘Valuer’ in Sec. 137 of the Decree.