The newly elected President of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) Mobolaji Adeniyi has said the only way to forestall collapse and other deficiencies in building sector is for government and individuals to patronise registered architects and other professionals in the sector.
She attributed loss of lives and valuables in building sites to unwholesome engagement of quacks in the building industry to handle projects.
Speaking with journalists in Ibadan during her post inauguration thanksgiving and luncheon as the 30th President of NIA, Adeniyi who is the second female President of association, urged government and stakeholders to always patronise only registered architects and other professionals in the building sector.
She said: “We have seen a lot of buildings collapsed in Nigeria because professionals were not involved in the process leading to the implementation of such projects.
“Architects are actually the leaders in the building industry. Any building from inception starts with the architects to the final completion. The architects design and supervise to ensure that the projects that are conceived are physically implemented.
“We collaborate with other structural experts to ensure that buildings are constructed in such a way that it conforms with global standard.
“But when every building has an architect, qualified engineers and all other related professionals, handling these projects, we will not be having incidents of building collapse.
“We are going to make sure that we work closely with the government to ensure that every local, state and Federal Government engages professional architects to handle projects. I want to assure you that in Nigeria, we have qualified architects to effectively handle projects regardless of its magnitude.
“The country doesn’t need to bring in foreign architects. There are architects trained in Nigeria and efficiently capable to handle structures that will not be prone to collapse.”
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On the challenges facing the NIA, she said: “In Oyo State just like other states in the country, we don’t have enough architects in various offices, most especially in the planning departments.
“All the 774 local governments in Nigeria must have qualified and registered architects. This is because if you don’t have architects, how can you approve the drawings that are going out.
“We need more recognition for the architects by all tiers of government. We need more advocacy to get our architects more recognised and patronised. Every architect in Nigeria are trained and licensed to do their jobs. We have registration board that licenses architects.
“Governments, corporate organisations and private individuals should patronise and engage architects and experts in the construction of projects and other structures.”
