The Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers has called for collaborations between Academia and industries, in research and development, to promote industrial growth. Speaking at the just concluded 9th NIEEE Fellowship Conferment event in Abuja, the Chief Executive Officer of Kenol Nigeria Limited, Engr. Olu Ogunduyile stated that “it is time to stop importation” to start the manufacture of made-in-Nigeria electrical appliances. He challenged professionals, about the state of things in the nation while giving corresponding recommendations, as an authority in the Electrical Engineering industry
According to him to achieve this, the “government should encourage the Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) to fund the industrial growth at a single-digit interest rate, with a long long period of repayment, say six years”. He also stated that “this is not about oil subsidy, but the developmental process for which only the government can create an enabling environment”.
He shed light on the theme; ‘Contribution of Professional Bodies to the Growth and Development of the Nation’s Economy, by highlighting the core functions and responsibilities of professionals to the national economy, stating that their “contributions cannot be overemphasized”.
Regarding the supporting capacities of professionals for economic development, Engr. Ogunduyile gave a 9-point breakdown, which embodied the message in its entirety. He made clear the direct socioeconomic link, between professionals and the public service sector, stating that they are to “support public administration reforms including the public procurement Act of 2007”. Noteworthy was his mention of a need for developed partnerships and multidisciplinary teams, to facilitate positive growth and sustainability, as this was lacking in a majority of Nigerian enterprises. He attributed the success of Julius Berger within the Nigerian environment to the proper use of partnership, which he believes is responsible for their long-standing presence.
During his speech he commended the efforts of COREN concerning their proposed plan for facilitating Outcome-Based Education (OBE), stating that “we need it now, we don’t need too much of theory, we need something that we can teach that can lead us into implementation if we can’t do that we would be wasting our time”. This he spoke on, to emphasize the need for professional bodies to absorb students members as it would be beneficial to all parties, in the long run, stating that “there is a need to bring students closer to the associations because when we catch them young, we make the community a better place and also reduce the chances of brain drain as there would be opportunities for such students to practice and work”.
In addition, Engr. Ogunduyile stated that “previous efforts of government, geared towards achieving economic development had relied on the use of foreign aid, investment in machines, foster education at the primary and secondary levels, controlling population growth and giving loans and debts relief to stimulate the economy, to achieve self-sufficiency, have not yielded any results” further pinpointing illiteracy and ignorance as a major obstacle. For recommendations, he stated that “it is his candid opinion that active participation of more professions in the development process, will harmonize all our efforts to achieve the desired result”, also “government, policymakers, and key players, should quickly expedite action in executing the Executive Order 5 to be fully implemented to empower the locals”.
As it relates to mentorship, Engr. Ogunduyile, challenged senior members of the Institute to address the issue of graduate engineers being deployed to schools as teachers, during the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Scheme, saying it should not continue, while the “Executive Committee of these professional bodies, should foster a relationship with all fellows”.
Bringing his speech to a close, he charged the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI “to rise to the immediate challenges to foster a relationship with the industries and the academia, to ensure massive production of ventilators, spraying machines, and other equipment that would take away the pressure on our currency”, to the audience, “without production economy, our situation would be a mirage” and in the words of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk “a good teacher is like a candle, it consumes itself to light the way for others”
A total of 29 distinguished members of the Institute were conferred with the Fellowship award by the National Chairman Engr Kings Adeyemi who admonished them to see the conferment as a new responsibility towards the development of the Institute.
