Practitioners under the auspices of the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN) have bemoaned government and Nigerians’ unrepentant penchant for foreign-made goods and consulting services, saying it was a major challenge their members were facing in discharging their duties aright as consulting firms in Nigeria.
They also decried lack of good patronage from both the federal and the state governments in the last 50 years of the group’s existence.
The association, led by its President, George Okoroma disclosed these during a press briefing marking the celebration of the 50th anniversary golden jubilee of the group on recently in Lagos.
Okoroma said: “So far, while we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our existence as an association, it is worthy of note to put on record that our members have not enjoyed good patronage from the government of our country and the people of Nigeria.”
ACEN is a body of registered independent private engineering consulting firms in Nigeria formed in 1971 by a team of 12 engineers led by late F.A.O. Philips.
Okoroma, who was accompanied by the past presidents of the association: Ibikunle Folayan, Mayen Adetiba, Bayo Adeola and Charles Akindayomi, appealed to the government to change the narrative by giving indigenous consulting engineers their due place in project designs and execution.
He urged the government to patronize indigenous consulting engineers in issues of project designs, construction, operation and maintenance.
Government and Nigerians’ unrepentant penchant for foreign-made goods and consulting services, he said, had led to low patronage of the services of consulting engineers in Nigeria as members now have to compete for contracts with foreign companies in Nigeria.
“If our government and people cannot trust us on their own to be able to execute their projects according to standards and specifications, then consulting engineering which is the bedrock of sustainable infrastructural development of nations has a long way to go in Nigeria,” ACEN president said.
Okoroma said that though his members were pleased with the government’s policies on the Nigerian Local Content Act of 2010 and the Presidential Executive Order 5 of 2018, which are giant strides outlining procedures for planning and execution of projects, but hope that the process of implementation and enforcement would be internalized in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, international and privates organizations across the nation.
“If need be, we are willing to collaborate and partner with foreign consulting engineers in areas where we lack or need more expertise. What we are asking and advocating for is a situation of net-zero foreign content in engineering consulting contracts awards in Nigeria,” he said
The president of ACEN took time out to narrate the formation of the association in Nigeria and major achievements in the last five decades, saying its members’ firms have executed dozens of monumental projects of economic importance in all sectors of the Nigerian economy while simultaneously serving as the bridge between the possible and the ideal amidst challenges.
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