The President, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Mr Tasiu Gadari-Wudil, on Friday in Lagos challenged local engineers to redouble efforts towards resolving energy and development challenges in the nation.
Gadari-Wudil, represented by the inaugural Chairman, Apapa NSE, Chief Akintunde Zedomi, made the call at the combined physical/hybrid inauguration of Mr Babatunde Awode as the 10th Chairman of the branch and induction of new members.
Delivering the keynote address, he challenged members of the Apapa branch to get involved in resolving development and infrastructure issues in their highbrow economic host community.
“The street lights on Eko Bridge are not working properly, I don’t see any reason why the Apapa Branch cannot meet the Controller of Works to solve the problem,” he said.
He also challenged the branch to get involved in the blue and red rail line projects of the Lagos State Government which had major take off points from the Apapa axis.
The NSE President said the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development was also planning an urban renewal project in which the engineers must make positive contributions.
Gadari-Wudil said a ship Dockyard also existed in Apapa and the NSE branch must understudy their operations towards making impacting changes for development.
“NSE wants every part of engineering to be covered, Apapa branch should be ready to do more,” he said.
He also called on NSE Power Station branches to resolve technical challenges around designs, construction and maintenance in power plants in the nation.
He insisted that they were put there in the Power Stations by the Engineering Council specifically to resolve power problems in the nation, warning that, they should stop attaching themselves to other NSE bodies.
Citing Egbin Power Station Branch as example, he advised that, they remained in their jurisdiction to solve problems instead of trying to link identity to Ikorodu Division of NSE.
Mr Christian Ufot, immediate past Chairman, reeled out achievements of the branch under his administration in sports, manpower development, welfare and other areas.
He gave a brief history of the branch which grew from 22 members at inception and now has over 700 members.
Mr Babatunde Awode, newly inaugurated Chairman, Apapa NSE, promised quality leadership and thanked his predecessor and members for his election.
He sought support of members and advised inductees to uphold the ethics of the branch through hard work, commitment and dedication to engineering goals.
The Guest Speaker, Mr Sunday Makanjuola, spoke on the topic”Impact of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) on Nigeria’s Development”.
Makanjuola, represented by Mr Chuks Iluno, a Fellow of the NSE, gave chemical analysis on how gas is formed deep in the earth and how it can be extracted, processed and compressed into cylinders.
He said several products were derivable from gas mining and could boost the nation’s manufacturing industry because of the huge deposit but Nigeria needed the right leadership to harness the potential.
He explained that the quantum of gas the nation flares in 11 months could run the economy for over 10 years because the revenue lost was in trillions of dollars.
“Nigeria is sitting on money,” he said.
The guest speaker said said piping of gas was a very important aspect needing urgent attention for effective transportation to curb leakage and wastes.
Makanjuola also enumerated the benefits of gas as fuel for cars, reduction in carbon emissions to protect the environment as well as social economic development that could lead to Nigeria’s industrial boom. (NAN)
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