By Grace Alegba
The Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) on Saturday said it had begun tripartite collaboration with Bells University of Technology and the Dangote Group towards boosting Research and Development (R&D).
The Chairman of the Branch, Mr Olutosin Ogunmola said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said universities and industries coming together under a symbiotic relationship was a global practice the NSE was bringing to Nigeria through the collaboration.
Ogumola said the university’s College of Engineering, NSE and Dangote Group partnership would facilitate R&D for the company.
He said it would also give industry experience to engineering students and advance innovative development for Nigeria.
“That is what we are trying actually to put in place between Dangote Industries and Bells University of Technology.
“We (NSE) are midwifing it, being at the middle, to ensure that we develop the right kind of framework,’’ he told NAN.
He said the framework was expected to be completed within six months between the trio, before the final signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to drive the process.
Earlier, on Friday night during a combined virtual/physical event to mark end of the 2022 Engineering Week, organised by the branch, he reeled out its achievements.
Ogunmola said the branch had a vision to lead on innovations in the nation towards Nigeria’s transformation and industralisation.
“If we do not rise to fix our nation, nobody will do it for us,” he said.
He said that the branch had developed an engineering portal to serve as a one-stop shop where Human Resources managers could source for qualified engineers to eliminate quacks from the profession.
The guest speaker, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ashiru, presented a paper on “Taking Responsibility for Nigeria’s Transformation: the Imperatives for Engineers’’.
He said it was impossible to run any economy without engineering.
Ashiru, a fellow of several engineering and professional bodies, called for “purposeful engineering’’ practice that can solve problems in the nation.
He argued that problems confronting Nigeria, including security and electricity challenges, that had undermined the nation’s potential, could be corrected with engineering solutions.
“Engineering must be focused on solving problems. What we need as engineers is how to convert to reality,” he said.
Ashiru noted some inventions from various states in Nigeria being bought over by advanced economies.
He urged the nation’s policy makers to promote and fund local innovative talents of Nigerians.
The speaker, however, expressed joy that Nigeria was doing well in the digital information space
NAN reports that awards were conferred on the guest speaker, a member of the House of Representatives, Mr Ganiyu Johnson, and Prof. Jeremiah Ojediran, VC, Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State.
The Dangote Group bagged three awards, with one conferred on its President, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and another on Chief Edwin Devakumar, Group Executive Director, Strategy, Capital Projects, and Portfolio Development, Dangote Industries Ltd.
Award of Corporate Excellence was conferred on Dangote Oil Refinery while other awards were given to achieving engineers and captains of industries.(NAN)
