The Engineers’ Forum has continued to keep tab with the event of the Extra Ordinary General Meeting of the Nigerian Society of Engineers held on the 27th June 2019 that ended abruptly. Two weeks ago the Deputy President of the society Engr Mohammed Babagana granted our correspondent interview in Lagos in which he assured members of the society that there is no crisis in NSE and that what is happening is a family affair being handled. Our correspondent in Port Harcourt met with Prof Howell Hart, a fellow of the society and the arrowhead of the Concerned NSE Members group agitating for equity and fairness in leadership management of the Society. Prof Hart a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Rivers State University of Science and Technology bares his mind on the crisis in NSE. It is an exclusive only from the stable of Engineers’ Forum.
Prof, you have served the Nigerian Society of Engineers for nearly 40 years. Tell us your level of involvement and experience with the Society.
Like you have rightly said I have been engaged with the NSE for that period. I have served in the Exco, served as Port Harcourt branch chairman, served in several committees such as the Codes and Standards Committee, Electoral committee to mention but a few. At some point, I applied to serve as Executive Secretary, that didn’t go through. That was a very long time ago. I have a long history of service with the society.
Now to your second part of the question, my experience with NSE has not been pleasant. It has to be a master/servant engagement where some feel they are better than others to be in a leadership position. The same leadership situation happened in the NBA in the immediate past. It was those in the privileged position that decided to change things for the weak. Today they have a structure where every region can aspire to lead. Not only that they have reformed to separate the annual conference from AGM and can vote electronically without the encumbered of physical presence. Our society can never be an exception. We have to address this injustice. As of today, NSE has lost its professionalism. Technical papers presented during conferences are getting poorer in quality and at the end of the day nothing is done with the papers. No interface with appropriate agency for implementation. It is just a mere sociopolitical entity and that is not good for us.
You lead a group that calls itself Concerned NSE Members. What does the group seek to achieve?
It is all about the unfair treatment of other sections of the country. Some members are tired of being seen as slaves and when they have worked to get to the position of leadership, the rules would be changed by those who claim to own NSE. That can never be the dream of the founding fathers of NSE.
Tell us what happened at the last EGM in Abuja where the meeting ended abruptly and in chaos.
Many people still believe the meeting is running since no motion for adjournment was moved and it was not close properly. The Abuja EGM was a sham and a shame. It was a display of the highest order of insensitivity and disregard. It was a slap on the face of every member of the society with good conscience and a sense of equity and fairness. The motion of No Confidence was moved against Engr Adekunle Mokuolu and that suffices. It was a complete shame that he could hold the will of the majority to ransom. He knew the game plan of those that have held down NSE was up, so he decided to play that defeatist card. I doubt if NSE can be reformed or her present situation remedy. NSE is dead. The foundation laid by our founding fathers has been destroyed.
You sound very aggrieved. During the recent interview the Deputy President (the incoming President) granted, he said what is happening is a family affair that there is no crisis in NSE. How do you relate to that?
I did not see or read it. I don’t think he knows what he is talking about
Has your group laid the grievances to the society which you are a fellow?
The truncation of the EGM happened almost 3 months ago. The leadership of the society has not deemed it fit to address the issues raised or worked towards addressing them. No meeting has been held with the Concerned NSE Members to address the issues and they are planning for AGM in Kano; to do what? We wrote the BOT stating our grievances and making our position known. The response we got was insulting and a further rubbing of salt to injury. That letter is a disgrace to whosoever wrote it. The author of the letter sent a 2 paragraph response advising us to continue to slave to meet the dream of the founding fathers.
What is the way forward to resolving this crisis?
When people ask for the way forward, they are asking for a way to continue in the same thing. We want a society that will address professionalism, equity, justice and fairness. You cannot get that from NSE today. NSE has lost the capacity to deliver that. We can only continue to deceive ourselves.
Looking at the tenure of this administration that comes to an end by December, one can say some achievements have been made in terms of Executive Orders and COREN Amendment Act.
Do you know when these efforts started? The issue is not what the administration has achieved or not but how he has managed the need and will of the majority of members in running the society. How he truncated the will of the majority of members to meet the needs of the few.
Won’t this crisis affect professionalism and the practice of engineering in the country?
How? Rather it will improve it which is what we are asking for. I have said it that we have lost that professionalism. Engineering as practised here is not with the rigour of excellence that Law and Medicine are being practised. In medicine to become a fellow you have to go and resident and do research. In Law to become a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN your pedigree in cases handled determines it. In engineering what do we have; once you have the cash you are awarded a fellowship. There is a case of a person that was about to be given an appointment. He wasn’t a member of NSE. He was made a member in the morning and given fellow in the evening. That is what NSE is.
With the litany of issues raised, are you and your group boycotting the AGM in Kano?
Our position is clear to Concerned NSE members. We are going to communicate further actions using mainstream media in the coming days.
