NSE seeks support for Rauf Aregbesola Resource Centre

The Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) on Saturday called for public support towards equipping its new engineering hub called Rauf Aregbesola Resource Centre.

The new chairman of the branch, Mr Femi Adedotun, made the appeal while delivering a speech at his inauguration ceremony, at the Ralph Alabi Engineering Centre in Lagos.

Adedotun said the branch’s three-floor innovation hub called the Rauf Aregbesola Resource Centre (RAERC), located beside its Ralph Alabi Engineering Centre, was a place for birthing ideas, training, designs and fabrications.

He said each of the RAERC floors was designated for collaboration to sustain innovations, research incubations and entrepreneurship, listing various areas partners could come in.

“We need sponsors to furnish the building with modern equipment. We look forward to your support and suggestions for the actualisation of this goal,’’ he said.

Adedotun said that the hub would ensure the advancement of design incubations, innovation and entrepreneurship.

He said it would encourage synergy between academia, industry and engineers to boost local manufacturing.

“The tripartite relations and strong innovation policy guidelines will redress weak interaction within the ecosystem — low coordination between government, industry, and academia; insufficient coordination within government; and low interaction among businesses,’’ he said.

Adedotun, who is the 15th chairman, solicited the support of all members of the branch and promised to build on the legacies of his predecessor who prepared a 10-year road map of growth.

He said the inauguration lecture titled “Innovative Entrepreneurship: A Requisite for Sustainable Economic Developments’’ was apt in addressing Nigeria’s business challenges.

The guest speaker, Dr Ezekiel Oseni, Chief Risk Officer, Bank of Industry, said innovative entrepreneurship had changed the way business and services were rendered in terms of delivery.

Oseni listed recent challenges including COVID-19 which had introduced new ways into how businesses and services were done or delivered, hence the need for increased local production.

“That is why we need to be innovative in the way we design and run our businesses,” he said.

He said engineering firms as solution providers must also adopt environmentally friendly policies towards mitigating the impact of climate change.

He challenged engineers to collaborate with academia, industries and other stakeholders to boost knowledge, manufacturing and solve societal problems.

The President, Mr Tasiu Gadari-Wudil, represented by NSE Deputy President, Mrs Margaret Oguntala, enumerated efforts of the society at mentorship and closing gaps, partnering with the Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria.

Gadari-Wudil said, “Younger ones (engineers) are smarter and more adaptive to innovations”, hence various efforts by the society to mentor and empower them with requisite skills.

The immediate-past chairman of the branch, Mr Olutosin Ogunmola, while conducting dignitaries around the Rauf Aregbesola Resource Centre, explained the vision of the branch.

He said the building inaugurated in January needed urgent furnishing with equipment and technical components to boost local content initiatives in the nation.