Building institute honours Fashola

The Nigerian Institute of Building (NOIB) has conferred its fellowship on the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, in recognition of his contributions to the building environment.

Conferring the fellowship on him recently, the President of NIOB, Kunle Awobodu, urged the minister not to relent in his efforts to ensure that the National Building Code was made operational in the country.

Awobodu said, “From manufacturers of building materials to building artisans and professionals, the culture of doing it right must be embraced.”

He added that any nation bereft of building code was vulnerable to inappropriate building construction, and stressed that stakeholders in the Nigerian building environment had for long canvassed for building construction in Nigeria to be guided by the National Building Code which ensured that trained and licensed builders solely managed production of buildings on site to ascertain quality output.

Responding, Fashola said, “I have found it difficult and I still find it difficult to take the credit for any work that the team does and therefore this award is a reward of collective effort and so I wear this gown and I duff this hat on behalf of all the members of my team.”

He said the conferment had put enormous responsibilities on him and that he would do his best to live up to the responsibilities.

Fashola added that, “I believe that building is a very ennobling undertaking, it ennobles the builder and the beneficiary.

“It is good to build brick and mortar, but it is also important to build knowledge and values because it is knowledge and values that give meaning to brick and mortar, and so if we build without knowledge and values, it will not last.”