WARRI — THE Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) rose from its 37th National Engineering Conference and Annual General Meeting in Warri, Delta State, weekend, with a call on the Federal Government to carry out comprehensive and extensive studies on the engineering properties of the Ondo State bitumen sand with a view to evolving suitable Nigerian specifications and standards.
Generally, the engineers who regretted the low local content of expenditure in the oil and gas sector after nearly 50 years of oil and gas production, endorsed the National Local Content policy for the oil and gas sector and urged the government to apply it to all sectors of the economy, including agriculture, textile and foundry.
According to the communiqué which was read to newsmen by the NSE President, Mr. Mustapha Bulama, "the conference noted an extensive geological investigation of the abundant deposit of bitumen sand in the South Western Nigeria" but "it, however, observed the limited study into its engineering properties."
The conference took its position on the Ondo State bitumen project "due to the numerous potential usefulness of bitumen sand to the construction industry." It identified among other things, lack of vision and poor management of indigenous manufacturing companies and weak enforcement of government policies as regards operations of multinational companies operating in the oil and gas sector as factors that are responsible for the low local content of expenditure in the oil and gas sector, after nearly 50 years of oil and gas production.
It said "the challenge facing the engineering profession in Nigeria is that of the engineer’s ability to practise the profession for the development of the nation’s economy. The ability is not necessarily limited by competence but more by limited opportunities built into economic structure."
"While the theme of the conference: ‘Local Content Development in the Nigerian Economy’ focused on Nigeria", they said "the challenges go beyond the Nigerian shores. National response to these challenges must be a combination of affirmative government policies to protect local capability, and creation of an environment that stimulates development of local practitioners and entrepreneurs."
On privatisation and deregulation, the conference noted that "the current approaches to project execution in both public and private sectors whereby design, procurement and construction are integrated do not allow for adequate participation of indigenous expertise. Such strategies are not sustainable as they tend to patronize foreign economies and do little to enhance the local economy."
