Presidents of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Babagana Mohammed and Kunle Awobodu, respectively, have called on leaders of various professional bodies in the built industry on the need to work together as a team to nip cases of incessant building collapse in the bud.
In a separate forum, the presidents identified rivalry and encroachments into other professions by members among factors the cases of building collapse persist in the industry.
To halt the trend, NIOB president, Kunle Awobodu, said it has become expedient for all professionals in the industry to come together, work jointly and shun issues that are promoting rivalry among them.
NSE president, Babagana Mohammed said there was a need to address the issue of building collapse in the sector, suggesting that any step being taken to halt structural failures would require advocacy among building professionals.
According to him, there would be need to work together as a team to confront the menace of building collapse
“There are so many issues in this country which are not alright; and we come up as groups to address these issues. The number one is building collapse. As we heard, when a building collapses, the first culprit from our circle is a builder; but from outsiders, the first culprit is an engineer. So we need to attack this because lives are involved; we are losing our members.
“Builders are doing our work. Builders work with engineers; they also work with quantity surveyors. So we have now brought in a new understanding between most of us in the built industry that we must work as a team, we must watch our backs for the professions to grow,” the NSE president said.
He explained that every professional in the sector has his area of expertise, advising that everybody should be allowed to grow in his area of expertise rather than encroaching on other professions where he lacked know-how.
For this reason, Mohammed said he had been telling leaders of various professional bodies in the built environment on the need to work together.
According to him, they must work as one-strong front so that other people would not encroach into the professions and do what is wrong, while laying the blame at the door-step of engineers or builders.
“That is what we are trying to avoid. You know as a human being, there is this desire to feel you are everywhere, but everybody knows what it is supposed to do. We all went to schools and these things are clearly defined. I had an engagement with quantity surveyors, I had meetings with them and I told them clearly that, how can quantity surveyors cost engineering materials for me? It is not possible. I cannot go to the field and be counting blocks. That is not my job. I can do it as an engineer, but that is not my job, I don’t do it. This is what is called professionalism,” the NSE president said.
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