Introduction

The investiture of Engr. Chief Olumuyiwa Alade Ajibola, FNSE as the 27^th President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers was preceded by a pre-investiture colloquium held on Friday the 15^th January 2010, with the theme Engineering Imperatives for National Development. The Colloquium was addressed by six specialist resource persons and the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua, GCFR, represented by the Honourable Minister of State, Works, Housing and Urban Development, was the Special Guest of Honour. The Minister for National Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, gave the Key Note Address, while other eminent Nigerians and friends of Nigeria graced the occasion.

The colloquium identified:

1. The poor state of infrastructure as a major limiting factor in driving the Nigerian Economy effectively.
2. To enhance the achievement of Vision 20:2020, the process must be associated with a drastic up-scaling of Nigeria’s physical and knowledge infrastructure.
3. The increasing lack of patronage of indigenous Engineers, especially on Government funded mega projects has stifled the desired infrastructural development and sustained growth of engineering practice in Nigeria.
4. Numerous projects and services are designed and built using foreign expertise with little opportunity for addition of value or acquisition of technology and associated skills, by the indigenous expertise.
5. It is the belief that the current sorry state of national infrastructure is as a result of the inability of the Nigerian economy to adapt or use available “engineering infrastructure base” to provide power, energy, and machines for its development
6. With the current focus on the 7-Point Agenda of the present administration, the time has come for Nigeria to review its strategy regarding the use of local expertise and minimize this unwholesome state of affairs for purposes of national interest as well as self-dignity and national pride.
7. Our country must borrow a leaf from other rapidly developing nations of South East Asia, and adopt a developmental policy that gives indigenous Engineers full participation in all Engineering projects, small or mega.
8. Appropriate framework should be adopted in the case of projects, where foreign expertise is required, for a structured and equitable partnership of Nigerian and the foreign experts, which will guarantee knowledge, technology, management and other skills acquisition by the Nigerian professionals involved. This process will limit capital flight and assure sustainability of the projects so procured. It will also provide a strong foundation for the knowledge infrastructure base which is a requisite condition for sustainable national development
9. The Colloquium posits that, our procurement process should incorporate the principles arising from the Colloquium, as a minimum condition for all engineering procurements in Nigeria.
10. When this has been done and the role of engineering put into proper perspective, the industrial and socio-economic national development envisaged in Vision 20; 2020, will be achieved within a shorter time frame and in a sustainable manner.

Engr. Ahmed. K. Amshi, FNSE

Executive Secretary.