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Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade has offered automatic
employment to all graduates of civil engineering from the state,
irrespective of their year of graduation.
The Governor made the pronouncement while receiving the National Chairman,
Institution of Civil Engineers, Engr. Andem Ekpo-Bassey along side members
of the organizing committee of the 16th Annual General Meeting of the
association.
Ayade further directed the affected persons to immediately submit their
curriculum vitae (CV) at the Civil Service Commission, New Secretariat for
schedule of interview.
Governor Ayade who was also inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the
institution by the National Chairman lamented the ill treatments members
of the institution have received in Nigeria, noting that civil engineering
plays a very cardinal role in the progress of mankind and as such, must
be treated with dignity and given the opportunity to contribute their
quarters to the development of the nation.
“I like to challenge you to the fact that today, for us who hold political
offices and have instrumentality of awards of contracts, the Nigerian
government and Nigerian governors have been a bit unfair to the Nigerian
Institution of Civil Engineers because traditionally that is the
umbrella beacon of engineering practices in Nigeria.”
He consequently offered “automatic employment to every civil engineer of
Cross River State origin because we would need thousands of you to be
engaged in the construction of the 275 kilometers superhighway and Bakassi
Deep Seaport projects.”
Continuing, he said: “I have done so, conscious of the financial
implication on my shoulders but I am also aware that this is the right way
of encouraging young Cross Riverians who have made a choice of such a very
difficult discipline to study.
“It is true that if you look at the academic pursuits of our state
indigenes, there are mostly from humanities. So, for the few of them who
have dared to do engineering and civil in particular we must encourage
them.”
While stressing the importance of civil engineers in any society, the
governor said “the world is going towards the fourth generation of
industrial revolution and Africa is still lagging behind. There is no
growth, no development, no civilization without infrastructure, and there
is no infrastructure without civil engineering which is why you are very
critical in any nation that aspires to grow.
“Civil engineers are the heartbeat of development. Africa is looked upon
as a black continent not for lack of power but for lack of infrastructure,
power is only one aspect. For all major project whether awarded to
expatriate firms or local firms, it’s the responsibility of this
institution to supervise and ensure there is also skill and knowledge
transfer during the course of executing such projects.”
The governor maintained that “It is the responsibility of your institution
to ensure that ten years down the line we would not want to see any
expatriates doing any job unless as a subcontractor under the Nigerian
institution of Civil Engineers. It is the responsibility of this
institution to ensure that only professionally qualified and competent
engineers do engineering work.”
According to him, “The collapse of buildings, bridges, and the collapse of
life occasioned by poor infrastructural construction and designs including
concept has bedeviled this country for too long.”
Ayade promised to partner the institution where necessary, explaining
that “Let me be the first governor in Nigeria to officially recognize the
institution by providing a space in the quality control unit of our entire
projects. Therefore, if partnership with my Ministry of Works where two of
your senior engineers, my Commissioner for works and Director of Civil are
your colleague, they would be working with you to draw up a programme were
you would find applicability and process of commencing the major
construction works in the state.”
While calling on the body to sponsor a bill that will entrench
professionalism and check quackery in its practice, Ayade revealed that
“There is no provision in my constitution in my architecture of governance
that proscribes your accreditation of any contract or any contractor I
intend to use.
You must push for legislation through the National Assembly that brings
you to the table where issues of civil engineering and infrastructure are
concerned.”
The governor further assured them that “I am one of those who stand by you
and would stand very strongly, especially coming from the background of a
senator who has been there and has passed the the highest number of bills
in the Nigerian senate, coming from that background to become governor
today I’m in a position to provide the needed support to ensure that you
become recognized in the constitution.”
He reminded them that “It is your mandate and core responsibility all over
the world that if you don’t have the certification with a seal you cannot
practice. If you cannot practice, even being able to award a contract to
poor contractors just because he has equipments, you must cross check for
quackery, because equipment means nothing unless there is a civil brain
to drive the process of those equipments.”
Ayade who thanked the National Chairman for attracting the AGM to the
state for the first time as well as the body for the honour done him,
described Nigeria Institution of Civil Engineers as a highly reputable
institution that has the requisite capacity to transform the landscape of
the country.
He added that his induction into the institution will spur him to
continue to dream bigger infrastructural projects that will place the
state and Nigeria at large on the path of prosperity.
Earlier, the Chairman AGM planning committee of the Nigerian Institution
of Civil Engineers, Engr. Godwin Akeke, disclosed that the AGM was coming
to Calabar for the first time which also coincided with the fact that it’s
the first time Cross River State had produced a National Chairman in the
person of Chief Engr. Andem Ekpo Bassey.
He has graciously attracted the conference to be hosted in the state for
the first time, 30 years after the existence of the institution.
Justifying the host right further the chairman noted that “Cross River
State is the state with the most ambitious infrastructural projects,
therefore we are not surprised that this conference is coming up here
coupled with the fact that our international colleagues have also sent
in their commendation to His Excellency’s visionary projects like the deep
seaport and the 275 kilometers superhighway and pledged their total
support to the success of the administration.
Also speaking, the National Chairman, Chief Andem Ekpo Bassey who
performed the induction on Governor Ayade as Honorary Fellow, of the
Institution of Civil Engineers of Nigeria in recognition of his
outstanding leadership style and massive infrastructural development that
will employ many engineers, thanked the state for being a good host to the
institution and promised to partner the state whenever they are call upon
to offer their professional advice.