Building institute tasks new fellows on professionalism

The President of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Kunle Awobodu, has urged over 30 fellows who were recently inducted by the institute to uphold the ethics of the profession.

Awobudu reiterated that the Nigeria stood to gain optimally when it realised and accepted that building production management was a distinct professional service rendered by builders.

Awobodu, who spoke at the virtual induction of NIOB members into its fellowship cadre, lamented that for too long the society had been misinformed or uninformed about the building delivery process.

He claimed that while the impression had been created in times past that the designs of buildings were services rendered by specialists, the construction of the building had been wrongly, by actions and inactions, presented as a service that any unlettered, untrained but ambitious and connected individual could do.

According to him, this anomaly has been the bane of the housing and building delivery process that has earned Nigeria the unenviable reputation of a nation with seemingly unending incidences of building collapse.

He informed the inductees that the society expected much from the profession in terms of safeguarding its interest in the construction, maintenance and preservation of building stock.

While acknowledging that the building delivery process –  from design to construction – was based on team work, with each participant playing their part, Awobodu further asserted that with all sense of responsibility to protect lives and property, only registered builders were charged by Nigerian law with building  construction, maintenance and deconstruction.

Awobodu, therefore, charged the inductees to bring their wealth of experience to bear in policy formulation and mentoring of younger professionals.

The Chairman of the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) and Vice Chancellor (VC) of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Prof. Kabir Bala, said, “The NIOB constitution stipulates that a corporate member of NIOB aspiring to proceed to the fellows’ cadre must have been licensed as a registered builder by CORBON. Invariably, a fellow of NIOB should be a quintessential professional in building technology and management practice.”

Earlier, the Chairman of the College of Fellows of NIOB, Bldr. Mrs. Adebolanle Araba, welcomed participants and enjoined the conferees to leave legacies.

Among the 30 conferees were a traditional ruler, academics and university administrators, technocrats, accomplished private sector entrepreneurs and researchers.