The newly elected president of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Mrs. Mobolaji Adeola Adeniyi, on Sunday, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, said the only antidote to the growing cases of building collapse in Nigeria lies with the government at all tiers by patronizing registered architects.
She attributed the loss of lives and valuables in building sites via the collapse of structures to the unwholesome engagement of quacks in the building industry to handle projects.
Adeniyi, who spoke on the sidelines of her post-inauguration ceremony as the 30th president of NIA, said: “We want to urge the government at all levels to always, as a matter of policy, patronize only registered architects. We have seen a lot of buildings collapsed in Nigeria because professionals were not involved in the process leading to the implementation of such projects.
She stated: “Architects are actually the leaders in the building industry. Any building, from inception, starts with the architects to the final completion. The architects design and supervise to ensure that the projects that are conceived are physically implemented. We collaborate with other structural experts to ensure that buildings are constructed in such a way that they conform to global standards.
“But when every building has an architect, qualified engineers, and all other related professionals handling these projects, we will not be having incidents of building collapse.
“We are going to make sure that we work closely with the government to ensure that every local, state, and Federal Government engages professional architects to handle projects. I want to assure you that in Nigeria, we have qualified architects to effectively handle projects regardless of their magnitude. The country doesn’t need to bring in foreign architects. There are architects trained in Nigeria and efficiently capable of handling structures that will not be prone to collapse,” Adeniyi remarked.
On the challenges facing the NIA, she hinted that in Oyo State, just like in other states in the country, we don’t have enough architects in various offices, especially in the planning departments. All the 774 local governments in Nigeria must have qualified and registered architects. This is because if you don’t have architects, how can you approve the drawings that are going out?
“We need more recognition for the architects by all tiers of government. We need more advocacy to get our architects more recognized and patronized. Every architect in Nigeria is trained and licensed to do their jobs. We have a registration board that licenses architects.
“Governments, corporate organizations, and private individuals should patronize and engage architects and experts in the construction of projects and other structures,” Adeniyi added.
Earlier in his address, the president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), who is also the president of the Sword of The Spirit Ministries, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, lauded the emergence of Adeniyi as the national president of NIA, describing her as a virtuous professional in the nation’s building industry.
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