By Peter Okolie
Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo has blamed frequent building collapse in the country on poor engineering quality.
Uzodimma made the observation on Thursday when he received the President and top executive members of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) in Nigeria who paid him a courtesy call at Government House, Owerri.
“The innocent lives we lose every time there is a building collapse could be avoided if the engineers are allowed to do their job as professionals,” he said.
He then challenged the Society to, from time to time, “intervene in the areas of your profession to save the Nation from those calamities.”
Uzodimma, who had earlier reminded the body that he was a Corporate member of the Society, reiterated his belief in the professional integrity of NSE and his conviction that “everything about life and society is engineering.”
He said for the country to develop, the Nigeria Society of Engineers must be in the forefront and be fully involved.
He called for partnership between the government and the NSE, particularly in the area of monitoring and supervision.
Earlier, the National President of NSE, Mr Tasiu Wudil, said they were in Owerri for the 6th Engineer Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu Lecture Series.
Wudil commended the governor for his giant strides in the areas of road construction, Information and Communication Technology, women and youth empowerment.
He noted that the NSE is a non-partisan body and requested the governor to assist the society in realising its dream of having an engineering centre in Owerri.
He said similar centres were in Lagos, Benin, Uyo and Kano for the purpose of training young engineers and providing them jobs opportunities. (NAN)
