PROPERTY ARTICLES

Nigerian engineers are currently preoccupied with finding ways to curb the growing corruption and excessive involvement of politicians in infrastructural projects development. At a recent brainstorming session in Lagos, participants advocated a process of reawakening to the profession‘s code of ethics. SAMSON ECHENIM writes.

In what seemed to be a forerunning campaign towards instilling professional integrity in the practice of engineering in the country, Nigerian engineers, under the aegis of the Nigerian Society of Engineers and the Association of Consulting Engineers of Nigeria, gathered in Lagos recently to deliberate on how corruption in infrastructural project’s execution could be eliminated.

The engineers believed that the corruption often witnessed in the award of the various infrastructural contracts became possible because there was an engineer who compromised. They were, therefore, convinced that they had a role to play to check corruption to allow the populace enjoy more and better socio-economic amenities.

All over the world, infrastructural corruption is on the increase, making nations to lose an approximated amount of $500bn globally in the provision of infrastructure by governments, according to a recent United Nations report.

Making reference to the report, the Registrar of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Mr. Felix Atume, said involvement of engineers in corruption with politicians was causing more harm than the monetary value estimated by the UN.

Atume, who spoke on corruption and ethics in the engineering profession at the forum, noted that a lot of lives had been lost due to shortage of medical facilities, such as hospitals and portable water, all of which were services provided through the deployment of engineering services.

He explained that it could not be possible for politicians to steal government fund via infrastructural projects without an engineer‘s signature, which must always appear on such projects.

He said, "The United Nations forecasted in 1998 that about 80 per cent of infrastructural spending would be in developing countries. This is exactly true in case of Nigeria where over 80 per cent of the national budgets in the three tiers of government are being spent on infrastructure.

"This loss amount to five per cent of world economy and does not include human loss. A lot of lives have been lost in this country as a result of lack of medical facilities, hospitals, water supply, which had made people to die from preventable diseases."

In an interview with our correspondent, the President of Nigerian Society of Engineers, Mr Olumuyiwa Ajibola, agreed that corruption was preventing many people from accessing what belonged to them and had made poverty to wax stronger.

"If we can hold our own in a world that is drifting to the sea, we can stop the drift. We want Nigerian engineers to know everything they need to know in order to be able to stand on our feet and take what belongs to us," he said.

While noting that Nigeria would have been a better country if the entire fund was being channelled into its original respective places, the ACEN President, Mr. Ibikunle Ogunbayo, said despite the contributions of engineering to humanity, the profession remained the most culpable in aiding corruption in developing nations.

"We must take this profession away from people, who do not have any business in it," he said.

However, making this a reality in the prevailing Nigerian situation can be difficult, experts have said.

According to Mr Badmus Oladele, a practitioner, the engineering code of ethics contains relevant guides for engineers to operate above board, but their ability to adhere to the ethics is yet another cumbersome task.

In an interview with our correspondent on Friday, Oladele said, "Under the (engineering) code of ethics, engineers are expected to demonstrate the highest standards of honesty and integrity. We really have to go back to the drawing board.

"Section 15, subsection 1 & 3 of the Engineers Registration Act, provides for the establishment of Registered Engineers Disciplinary Tribunal and Registered Engineers Investigating Panel, but they need to be further empowered to cover corruptible offences in this regard."

Another civil engineer, Mr. Samuel Adeleke, who runs a consortium of engineering firms in Lagos and Abuja, said the decision of engineers to rise to the situation was in good direction.

According to him, engineers must be firm, since politicians cannot do the job after all.

He said, "It goes like this: if I say no to an offer of a contract, where the cost has been doubled, tripled or so, and you also stand firm and say no, who would do it?

"We know that many bogus infrastructural projects here are usually given to foreign firms, but how we operate here is enough signal to teach foreign contractors. The deadly phenomenon of ‘that is how we do things here‘ is from our people and not the foreigners."

In his presentation, Atume also said the investigation panel should be ready to delve into any allegation of misconduct.

Charged with the duty of conducting a preliminary investigation into allegations of misbehaviour by engineers, Atume said, "Practitioners found guilty of misconduct must fall under the hammer of the rules."

He said, "If practitioners should uphold, at all times, the dignity, standing and reputation of the profession, then we must have been able to successfully take the profession away from corruptible influences."