The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has called on the government to appoint an engineer to head the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the country to achieve sustainable development.
The President of NSE, Mr. Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, made this call at a news conference organized by the society to commemorate World Engineering Day (WED) in Abuja on Saturday.
He explained that 70% of INEC’s operations are logistics, which is industrial engineering and election now is ICT-based, technology-based. If the government appoints an engineer as INEC’s chairman, it will lead to better results.
- “If you want things to work, don’t be afraid to put the right professionals in the right places. What we are saying is that the incoming government should be mindful of this if they want to develop this country. In every political party, there are engineers. People with the right competencies should be put in place,” Gadari-Wudil said.
Speaking on the recent building collapse in Gwarimpa, FCT, he also called for the full implementation of Presidential Executive Order 5, in which certain critical sections are not being fully implemented. He stated that there was an urgent need to establish responsible Building Engineering Practices and Governance.
- “The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) views with severe dismay and as a national disgrace, the recent collapse of a 3-storey building on 6th Avenue, Gwarimpa District, Abuja. These disasters are outcomes of ineffective compliance, breakdown of regulatory control, official negligence, and failure to stamp out building design and construction incompetence and quackery,” he said.
The objectives of WED include creating awareness about World Engineering Day as an important international day for achieving sustainable development by governments, civil society, industry, and the public; to increase awareness of Engineering, its impact on modern life, and that it is crucial to advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among other objectives.