Engineering Association lists reasons for building collapse

Nigerian Association of Technologists Engineering (NATE) has said failure to keep to the ethics and codes of building, cutting corners in terms of the required materials are the main causes of building collapse.

National President of NATE, Dominic Udoatan, said this in a chat with journalists during the N500,000.000 fundraising and groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of NATE House, its permanent secretariat in Abuja, on Wednesday.

Udoatan, however, expressed hope in the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) determination to work on the issue through closed monitoring.

He said the NATE House is a place where future generations of technologists can find inspiration and guidance, and more importantly, “a symbol of their progress and permanence”.

“As we conquer new territories, NATE House will be our home base, a place to rest, recharge, and plan for the future. This building is not just an administrative office; it’s an investment in our future, it will generate revenue for NATE, alleviating the financial burden on our members and allowing us the opportunity to operate with greater ease,” he said.

The President, however, decried the influx of foreigners into the country to displace artisans, saying, “It Is very common and it is because we don’t have proper regulation that is why you see people coming in and some of them come in illegally, so you will start from entry point and from the immigration points, somebody is coming in and what is he coming in to do?”

He said it is not a healthy development but again, “We have to pay more attention to the country and to technologies, that is why we are talking about the discrimination of Technologists, it is not motivating.”

He said: “It is true that they have taken over the work of most artisans and 50 per cent of them are in Nigeria illegally and it is not that Nigerians can’t do that jobs but some people pride in using foreigners, buying foreign goods and importing cars, we must start to patronize made in Nigeria goods, technology and professions.”

“So we have to pay more attention so that we have to make use of our people, craftsmen technicians, and we can also give that same services that we import if we pay our craftsmen and technologist. Some people come in to do work of engineers, and they are not engineers, and this happens because we are not enforcing the local content.”