In few weeks time, it will be a year that our President was elected to pilot the affair of Nigerian engineers. I can say he has delivered in most of his pan. This is for record purpose .
INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY THE 28th
PRESIDENT OF THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS, ENGR. MUSTAFA BALARABE SHEHU,
FNSE ON THE 11th FEBRUARY 2012 AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFRENCE CENTER, ABUJA.
PROTOCOLS.
INTRODUCTION
All praise and thanks be to Allah
by whose grace we are witnessing this special day in which there is yet another
smooth transition in the leadership of this great society. From its inception
54 years ago, 27 distinguished Nigerian Engineers have taken similar
responsibility and thus bringing this society to the enviable position it is
today. Some of these great men of wisdom and vision whom we address as Past
Presidents are right now with us to grace this particular occasion. I salute
you Sirs.
Distinguished Engineers, I feel
deeply humbled to stand before you in acceptance of this great responsibility
as the 28th President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
This, is indeed an enormous and
herculean task bestowed on me, considering the high level of expectation the
nation has on us as engineers and of course the expectation that our members
have on the leadership for their common welfare and prosperity. However, if I
take into account the consistent support I have been enjoying since the
beginning of my sojourn in the leadership of NSE - from Chairmanship of Kano
Branch 12 years ago, to my tenure as Vice President for 3 years as well as my
service as Deputy President for the last two years, I come to believe that this
seemingly unsurmountable job, can be done. I therefore, thank all of you for finding
me worthy to serve in this capacity, and like Oliver Twist, I am appealing for
more support, co-operation, guidance and constructive criticism from you all,
to take this Society to the higher position we all desire.
To my immediate Past President,
Engr. Olumuyiwa Alade Ajibola, FNSE I will remain ever grateful for all the
opportunities you have accorded me and the all-inclusive leadership style you
have given us as President. I will try my best to fit into the large sized
shoes you have left for me. With your co-operation and that of all the
engineers, I will continue on the good work you have done to the next higher
level.
Distinguished ladies and
gentlemen, I want us to reflect on the NSE mission and vision to enable us
assess where we are from, where we are now and to know exactly where we are
going so that we do not lose track.
The NSE mission reads as follows:
The Nigerian Society of Engineers
shall be one of the very best Engineering professional bodies in the whole
world.
The NSE Council also approved
three sentenced mission statement in order to actualize the vision. These are
as follows:
The Nigerian Society of Engineers is dedicated to the provision of quality service aimed at enhancing professional competence and development of its members at all times.
The NSE is also committed to focus on collaboration with, influencing and providing quality advice to the various arms of the Government, Industry, Commerce, the Academia and the Society.
The NSE shall make meaningful contribution to the advancement of technology worldwide.
Having gone through the mission
statement set out for us, one may ask himself; Have we been doing well to
accomplish our mission? The answer to this may vary from individuals to groups.
Personally however, I have observed that over the years, we have been more or
less talking to ourselves and that is why we have not been able to achieve our
mission at the pace we should. We therefore, must change strategy. It is in the
light of this, I will create strong and
effective communication links with the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary,
military and paramilitary, organized private sector and the general public.
This is necessary for the Nigerian Engineer to have the opportunity to give the
desired contribution for sustainable national development.
However, in as much as the leadership will
do its utmost best to protect and project the engineer forward, the engineer
also in his own individual capacity has to be mindful of the expectations the
Nigerian public has on him. As
it stands today, the society we serve is not entirely satisfied with our
performance. Hard as it may be to accept, I feel it is less important to focus
on whether the assessment is fair or not. The important thing is for us to
transparently come to terms with the prevailing realities, accept the gap in
expectation and do our best to bridge it. Therefore, as professional engineers,
we have to perform effectively and faithfully to earn public confidence.
OUR CHALLENGE AS A NATION.
It has become fashionable for leaders
to publicly acknowledge the potential greatness of Nigeria without defining in
clear terms and means of achieving such greatness. To take a global view of our
concept of engineering, the correlation between Engineering and National
development and perhaps ask the question; where are we as a professional body
and as a nation? Countries like Singaphore, China, Dubai, Malaysia, Japan,
South Korea and even South Africa took deliberate action plans to change their
course from under-development to greatness:
Your Excellencies, distinguished
Fellows, Engineers, Ladies and Gentlemen, as experienced in these countries
that achieved greatness, it is a fact that sustained development requires;
- Active government intervention and direction
- Investment in human capital development
- Discipline, commitment and time consciousness
- Application of science, engineering and technology to develop infrastructure and industry
- Ability to be consistent in policy formulation and implementation of such.
- Punishment and/or sanctions for transgression, offenders or non-performers.
- Sincerity in the fight against corruption.
Nigeria can learn and even excel
from the experiences of the nations we have just mentioned.
The lack of infrastructure in
Nigeria in all major sectors of our national life is a source of concern to all
Nigerians and particularly to the engineers.
At a time like this in Nigeria, the Nigerian Society of Engineers is
calling on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the country
with regards to infrastructural development and mobilize all Nigerian engineers
and put them to work on various projects identified across the geo-political
zones in the country. The society of engineers stands ready to work with the
government to put together details of this proposed engineering infrastructure
emergency plan. The society of
engineers identifies with the present government and Nigerians on the
imperatives to give special focus to infrastructural development, Energy sector
specially Power, Transportation sector (rail, road, air and waterways),
Agriculture and Education.
In Nigeria today, given the
present state of infrastructure development there is no good reason why
engineers that are trained and equipped with requisite technical skills at huge
cost to the nation are left to wander the streets for years in search of
employment. In the ensuing declaration of the engineering infrastructure
emergency plan, no single Nigerian engineer should be left unengaged. The solution to lack of development in
Nigeria can only be evolved by Nigerians, a task that Nigerian engineers are by
their training and practice equipped to be in the lead. Nigerian engineers are ready to take up
development projects from initiation, scope/concept, design, construction,
commissioning, operations and maintenance.
As the president of the Nigeria
Society of Engineers, I will lead the Society to partner with other
stakeholders in the Nigeria Infrastructure deliverance plan and enhance the
recognition of engineers and engineering practice in Nigeria. In line with that
also, I will immediately set up a committee comprising of engineers from
legislature, private sector, public sector and the academia to work with COREN
to ensure that the approved Government White Paper on the Report of
Presidential Committee on strategic plans for engineering development and
control in Nigeria which was submitted in October, 2005 is enacted into law.
PRIVATISATION OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES
If the exercise succeeds, the
on-going power sector reform/privatization exercise is expected open a new line
of business that will see the injection of not less than $10billion/annum in
the next decade. This massive injection of capital, mostly from foreign firms
from India, China and Europe also implies massive injection of technologies
which, if Nigeria does not position itself well, will not be domiciled
in-country. The consequence of such a scenario, which we have already seen in
other sectors of the economy, will be catastrophic for Nigeria (influx of
foreign engineers, technologist, technicians and artisans, which will result in
unemployment of Nigerian engineers, technicians and youths, capital flight,
social insecurity, etc). So, will the exercise succeed?
To see to the success of the
program, the NSE is of the opinion that as a matter of deliberate policy,
Government should consider appropriate apportioning of shares of these would-be
privatized companies to the Nigerian public, workers of the particular
organisation and the core-investor while still retaining some shares for
security and strategic reasons. With this kind of arrangement, the workers and
the Nigerian public will see the Company as part of their heritage and will
thus protect it from failure. With this model, all stakeholders’ interest would have been
taken into account and a scenario as experienced in Ajaokuta will not manifest
again.
In the privatization process
also, Government should have among
others, consider the following policies to protect its citizens from being
edged out from their businesses in the name global competition:
- Ø Preferential selection of competent companies owned by Nigerians as core investors in the privatization process for the Government owned companies.
- Ø Mandatory first consideration for usage of locally manufactured materials, such as cables, switches, transformers, and other miscellaneous electrical components.
- Ø First consideration for local companies as service providers.
CONTINOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
In recognition of the need to
make the Nigerian engineer meet the expectation of the ever-changing and
emerging markets, the NSE under Past President Emeka Ezeh established the
School of Engineering Practice which was commissioned on 18th July, 2007. This
metamorphosed into NSE Engineering Practice and Resource Centre, EPRC last
year. The EPRC has a Governing Board made of people of high integrity in the
engineering, academic and business spheres. It is headed by Engr. Prof. Femi
Bamiro, the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan.
The EPRC is to provide and
deliver the best of industry skills and knowledge to young engineering
graduates and experienced engineers through quality training aimed at providing
start-up skills, specialist skills, developmental and continuing professional
education for engineering graduates and personnel. The Centre will also help to create a pool of
resources and database for engineering skills, capacity availability for
national statistics and job placement. This and other details of the EPRC will
be posted on the NSE website. NSE under my leadership will give full support to
this Centre and therefore call on all and sundry to team up with us to achieve
this noble objective which is aimed at continuous professional development
through capacity building of the Nigerian Engineering personnel.
YOUNG ENGINEERS DEVELOPMENT FORUM
“If you want happiness for a lifetime, help the next generation” …Famous Chinese proverb
The NSE council under the
leadership of the Immediate Past President approved the establishment of the
Young Engineers Development Forum in line with what obtains at the World
Federation of Engineering Organisation, WFEO. The terms of reference for the
forum are among others, the following:
Participation of Young Engineers
in professional development in line with current technology.
Engineering career development in
secondary schools and tertiary institution.
Preparing Young engineers for
future leadership roles in the society.
At the last conference in
Calabar, exhibitions from the Young Engineers were assessed and the best three
were given prizes, the 1st of which is a trip to WFEO conference taking place
in Slovania in September 2012.
The NSE under our purview will
promote all engineering excellence especially from young Engineers. We shall
give them the appropriate platform to showcase their engineering prowess to
help in sustainable development.
I want to highlight however, that
the development of the young engineers depends also on all of us who are senior
in the profession. We have to create job opportunities, pay them adequately and
reasonably, pay for their programs on continuous professional development i.e.
workshops, conferences, seminars and even post-graduate courses. A situation
whereby senior engineers pay for
local/overseas training for only their children, neglecting young engineers
working with them is not healthy for the engineering profession and national
development. That is the only way we can earn their loyalty, dedication and
faithfulness.
I want to use this opportunity to
announce that henceforth, any student that graduates from a Nigerian University
whose engineering program is accredited will automatically be a graduate member
of the Nigerian Society of Engineers. The Secretariat is hereby directed to
liaise with the Universities to see to the implementation of this policy.
WELFARE FOR ENGINEERS
While we are very ready to use
the big stick on any member that falls below the engineering standard, the
Council will equally pursue vigorously the welfare packages for our members. We
shall continue to seek better conditions of service, healthy working
environment, good remuneration and consistent patronage for our members in
public and private sectors. In furtherance to this, I shall employ the
opportunities available in the Nigerian content Act and work more with the
National Assembly to extend the Act to cover all the infrastructural and
developmental sectors of our economy. This is the only way to build sustainable
infrastructure, buoyant economy and engender all-round prosperity among the
nation’s citizenry.
We are all aware that the
existing scale of fees for consulting services was last reviewed in 1996 and
thus making obsolete for all intents and purposes. The NSE Council under my
purview will liaise with the Association of Consulting Engineers of Nigeria, ACEN
and other relevant professional bodies to see to the review of the scale of
fees to conform to inflation indices over the years and the period we find
ourselves today.
DIVISIONS OF NSE.
We have presently 18 Divisions of
the NSE set up to identify with the different engineering specialities. While
commending some Divisions for excellent performance in recent years, some
Divisions are performing below the minimum expectation of the Council and
therefore need to change attitude otherwise appropriate penalty could be met on
them. The Divisions are the engine room of the society through which it moves.
The facilities established at the EPRC should be fully utilized by the
Divisions to make it vibrant and also earn reputation while improving its
economic status.
BRANCHES OF NSE.
Branches are the political arms
of the NSE. I will encourage Branches to draw up more activities in their
domains and thereby enhance the visibility of the Society throughout the
country. In as much as we encourage creation of additional branches where the
need arises, we are also willing and ready to close any Branch due to
non-performance and merge it with a stronger Branch nearby.
NATIONAL ENGINEERING CENTRE (NEC) BUILDING, ABUJA.
The NEC Building in Abuja phase
II, which was started in 2008 during Engr. K.A. Ali continued during the
immediate past President. However, the project faced some developmental
challenges that hampered the progress of construction. I endeavour to face these
challenges so that progress on the project could continue in the best interest
of our great society and the nation as a whole. It should be noted that the NSE
Headquaters when fully completed, will be one of the National Monuments the
country will be proud of.
NSE HQ (Annex) LAGOS.
The NSE HQ (Annex) has undergone
complete internal renovation and upgrade during the past two administrations
while I intend to work on the external works on assumption of office. However,
the Headquarters Extension is facing some challenges which I will also
endeavour to face on assumption of office.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
In recent years, the Society has
been recording tremendous achievement in its international affairs. This has
resulted in the attendance of the WFEO President and President-elect to the 2010 NSE
international Conference and the attendance of seven African Engineering
Institutions to the 2011 Conference held in Calabar. Also, in the last WFEO
Conference which took place in Geneva, after our attempt to contest for the
post of president-elect,
our immediate past president, Engr. O.A. Ajibola was appointed the Special
Adviser to the WFEO President on Africa. This is in addition to the position of
Engr. Mustapha Bulama as Executive Committee member of the WFEO since 2009.
I will as NSE President, continue
to do all it takes to increase our relevance in the world body and together
with my colleagues from sister engineering institutions in Africa facilitate
the actualisation of one African Engineering Institution which will be the sole
representative of Africa at WFEO and any other world body. I will also
encourage co-operation and business networking between engineering companies in
Africa so that we take the lead in the development of African infrastructure.
APPRECIATION:
Besides thanking God for all the
favours done to me that are too numerous to count, I will express my
appreciation to my late father Malam Shehu Salihu who died in January 1975 that
is eight months before I joined secondary school. He was extraordinarily kind
and forward thinking. My gratitude also goes to my late mother, Hajiya Rakiya
who passed on in August 1994. She was patient and always encouraged her
children to be honest and determined. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) forgive their shortcomings
and bless their souls.
My sincere appreciation also goes
to His Excellency the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, CFR, His Excellency my
own Governor, Engr. (Dr.) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, FNSE the Executive Governor of
Jigawa State His Execellency Alhaji Sule Lamido, CON. The Hon. Minister of
Works, Arc. Mike Onolomemen, Hon. Minister for National Planning Dr.
Shamsuddeen Usman, Hon. Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai and
our Chief Host, the Hon. Minister of FCT Alhaji Bala Mohammed deserve a lot
gratitude for sparing their valuable time to be here in spite of their tight
schedules.
The past presidents of our great
Society have over the years been very supportive to serving presidents. I have
seen the support you have intended giving me by your presence here. I
appreciate this very much. My colleagues the engineers, by whose mandate I am
making this speech, I am indeed very grateful to you all.
Our royal fathers that are here,
the representative of the Emir of Kano, Makaman Kano, Alhaji Sarki Ibrahim, the
representatives of the Emir of Dutse, I am assuring you of my continuous
loyalty and support to our communities.
This occasion would not have been
successful if not for the effort of the indefatigable Engr. O.W. Uzebu, the
Chairman of the Inauguration Committee and the highly committed members of that
Committee. I thank you Sirs.
This inauguration is generously
sponsored by State Governments, Federal Ministries and MDA’s Engineering Companies, our
friends and associates that are numerous to mention. I thank you very much for
supporting NSE and the engineering profession in this regard.
My colleagues from sister
engineering institutions in Africa, I very much appreciate the time and
resources you have sacrificed to be here. It is hoped that our relationship
will wax stronger and be mutually beneficial in the years ahead.
The management, engineers and
staff of Amal Engineering Services Ltd (Now MBS Engineering Ltd) deserve a lot
of gratitude for their commitment to work and making sure that my absence is
not felt in the office as I am here in the service of our profession.
The members of the Secretariat
staff deserves a big thank you for the passion and commitment they display in
the discharge of their duties. Please keep it up and even improve.
My sincere appreciation goes to
my teachers and lecturers at the primary schools, secondary school and the
University.
My engineering career started
during my NYSC at Enugu where Engr. U.A. Ata started me on a good footing by
exposing me to the world of engineering and giving me all the financial
support to enable me concentrate on the
job, I thank you a lot. My first
appointment was at NEPA Lagos Thermal Station under Engr. Saka Ikuye, who
treated me so very well and he is here to witness this occasion all the way
from Germany. I am indeed very grateful to you. I thank my former Managing
Directors at Kano State Rural
Electricity Board for all their support and
encouragement in my career.
I am very grateful to all my
friends from far and near who have been very supportive to this event. A
special mention of appreciation to Engr. Mohammed Kolo and Flt. Engr. A.A.G.
Dakata both of blessed memory who had wanted to witness this day.
A big thank you to our mother
Hajiya Umma who took the pain of being here in spite of her age and other
health challenges, my brothers, sisters, cousins, many of whom are here to
witness this occasion which we value so much in our family. Of special mention
are my brothers from the UK, Dr. Abdullahi Shehu & Dr. Tijjani Shehu who
arrived just yesterday to witness this occasion.
It is well known that nobody can
achieve anything if the home-front is not peaceful. I am therefore most
grateful to my wives Jamila and Habiba for the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere
they created in my house and for their unconditional love and support. I am
also very grateful to my children for their obedience, dedication to their
studies and for their patience in getting used to my absence from home because
of these assignments.
My gratitude goes to the
distinguished members of the press without whose concerted effort, all we have
said today will remain only here. Please let the world know.
I thank everyone for being here.
God bless the Nigerian Society of
Engineers,
God bless the Federal Republic of
Nigeria
Engr. Mustafa Balarabe Shehu,
FNSE
President,
NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF ENGINEERS
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