An Expert in building construction, Prof. Kunle Wahab has called on the Federal Government to invest in the Research and Development sector to update needed infrastructure to boost national development.
Wahab , a former Special Adviser to the President on Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit (BMPIU) said this in Abuja on Tuesday.
He spoke while delivering a keynote address at 2016 Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) conference.
The theme of the three-day conference is; “Repositioning the Nigerian Construction Industry-Realities and possibilities’’.
Wahab spoke on the topic, “Performance Evaluation of the Construction Industry within the limit of the Nigeria economy’’.
He said that investment in the sector would rehabilitate, upgrade and update the needed infrastructure which includes; housing, roads, water supply and energy.
According to him, there is also the need to identify quick wins, specify goals and implementation strategies in priority areas.
“The construction industry has greatly influenced the national economy and has contributed highly to the GDP and also employs large number of the population.’’
Wahab listed some of the problems being faced by the industry to include; inadequate funding, construction resources and corruption in procurement of operation.
Others he said are; “inadequate investment in research and development and inadequate power generation, transmission and distribution, non implementation of government policies, and low productivity of construction workers among others.
The expert also identified inadequate manpower and domination by foreign contractor’s casualisation of construction workers among others as challenges facing the sector.
Speaking on the way forward, Wahab said that collaboration between NBRRI and other stakeholders was necessary.
He said; “update of relevant draft reports, National content act, elimination of casualisation of the labour force, mandating monitoring and evaluation of all projects and enrolment, among others,’’ will also assist in addressing some of these challenges.
Also speaking, Engr Kashim Alli, the President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, (COREN) said that the country had what it takes to be a great nation.
Alli said that the country had profound human resource that could turn around the fortunes of Nigeria and the whole of Africa.
“Hon. Minister please use your period to change a lot of things and develop a knowledge based economy for the growth of the country,’’ he said.