Construction experts cry out over exodus of certified professionals

Construction experts on Wednesday warned that mass migration of trained artisans and certified professionals from the sector to other countries posed a threat to the future of the nation’s development.

The experts who were captains of construction industries drawn from all the seven built environment professionals gave the warning during a round table event in Lagos.

Discussants at the event which had the theme “Enhancing Quality Management in Project Delivery”, observed that the mass exit of talents was not yet noticed because of the current dip in the sector.

The experts said that the education system in Nigeria usually left a vacuum and it usually took years of hard work to build the capacity of artisans and professionals and immediately after they achieved efficiency, they leave the country.

They lamented that the nation’s tertiary institutions were not producing graduates to meet the actual needs of society and the few trained by construction firms migrated to use the knowledge in developed countries.

The experts warned that the coming crisis should not be ignored and urged themselves who were the experts to step in to assist the government to drive quality, and sustainability, and enforce certification and compliance to standards and codes.

They lamented that the technical schools were not enjoying adequate patronage and the graduates usually take up other trades because of the poor remuneration of the cadre in Nigeria.

The experts called for value re-orientation toward celebrating the roles of artisans in nation-building to ensure they did not keep quitting the space for others from neighboring African countries to take over the sector.

They also called for collaboration and synergy among professional associations to address issues of quacks, inadequate regulations, quality control, and other issues leading to building collapse and construction failures.

The experts also raised concerns on issues of capital flight as a result of sourcing quality construction materials and accessories which were not available locally from advanced countries.

Mr. Philips Olusesan, Treasurer of the Lagos State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), who represented the Chairman, Mr. Lucky Isename, said the younger generation had a mindset of training to leave the country.

“They are learning not to stay here but to travel out,” Isename said.

He said both skilled and unskilled were leaving the nation hence the need to make the industry more attractive for the younger generation.

He mentioned the efforts of NIOB in collaboration with governments, the private sector, and academia to grow the sector.

An Architect from Building Design Workshop/Aiden, Mr. Oludayo Uansohia, said the problems of mass migration in the construction sector had existed for long.

Uansohia noted that it was more than that of bankers and doctors but construction stakeholders were just realizing it.

“Once there is a boom in the construction industry, we are going to run into a huge problem because if the demand increases, there would be issue of supply,” he said.

Mr Diran Akerele of Consultants Collaborative Partnership said that several plumbers, masons, and other trained artisans usually abandoned the sector because of poor remuneration and take to riding commercial motorcycles and tricycles.

Akerele said that to achieve quality project delivery, there was a need to improve the competency of artisans and professionals through on-the-job training because there was usually gap between what they learned in school and reality on site.

He urged professionals to forge better collaboration with the artisans and boost their self-worth to remove the stigma of looking down on them so they could realize the importance of their roles in the development of Nigeria.

Mr. Omisore Abiodun of Bonus Engineering stressed the need for controls for quality management.

Abiodun said that the sector relied heavily on on-the-job training which was already failing because of the brain drain, hence the need for the experts to evolve new measures.

The Head of Operations, Gemona West Interior Design Studios, Mrs. Joy Opuda, urged the experts to leverage the opportunities in the mass migration as it would lead to technology and culture transfer.

“While Nigerians are going, we have expatriates coming in. I feel like, there is an opportunity for collaboration,” she said.

Mr. Odunayo Lawani, Chief Executive Officer/Lead Consultant, Arch Vision Workgroup, organizers of the event, said economic migration was a global phenomenon that no one had control over, hence the need to keep training and grooming more artisans and professionals.

He said the continuous boost in capacity and collaboration of experts with the private sector and academia would ensure efficiency in the construction process.

Other speakers proffered solutions to issues of how to achieve transparency in project procurement, the importance of soil and materials testing, and environment-friendly construction, amongst others.