The Nigerian Society of Engineers, Victoria Island Branch, has called on relevant authorities to pay adequate attention to local content as well as develop the capacity of engineers, as this will guarantee the country’s development.
The Chairman of the branch, Ms Rose Madaki, stated that the main objective of the branch was to foster sound engineering practice that would meet global standards among its members.
Madaki added that in the branch’s 10 years of existence, it had carried out training and retraining programmes to build the capacity of members and equip them with relevant skills to ensure that they carry out their functions professionally.
She explained that the society would continue to advocate local content, while providing support for Nigerian engineers in specialised fields to take up specific tasks.
She said, “We are called the branch that makes the difference. The main objective is to foster sound engineering practice within the community. In keeping with our vision and leadership style, we have adopted a strategic approach in line with global best practices to meet the needs of the community.
“Today, we are celebrating our 10th anniversary. One of our enabling strategies was to enter into collaborative partnerships with some critical organisations and this enabled us achieve several milestones.”
The President, NSE, Mr Adekunle Mokuolu, described engineering as the only profession that could develop and generate huge employment opportunities in the country.
Mokuolu stated, “The NSE Victoria Island has done very well. They have been able to affect their immediate community. For us, particularly, this branch has been going to different schools helping them to be able to ignite their interest in science, engineering and technology, which is the only thing that can develop a nation.
“Science, engineering and technology are the tools for human development anywhere in the world. That is the reason we should be focusing on intellectual development, intellectual capacity and intellectual property in the sense that by the time we start using the Nigerian content to do things in this country, you will find out that we will be increasing our engineering infrastructure and improving the infrastructure in the country.”
He added, “Engineering is a global knowledge and for every society that is developing, you want to protect your own people to develop that particular knowledge in your country, because it is one thing to have the knowledge and another thing is to practise and apply it.”