The 5th edition of the Engr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu Annual lecture series, held in Owerri, Thursday, was trailed by accolades on the elder statesman for his contributions to the advancement of the engineering profession in Nigeria.
Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, said the event provided a platform to once again, celebrate the accomplishments and stellar contributions of Engr. Iwuanyanwu to the profession.
Represented by the State Deputy Governor, Prof Placid Njoku, he described the annual lecture series organized in honour of the elderstateman “as a celebration of excellence, to celebrate a great man and an accomplished civil engineer”
He announced cash gifts to some students of various tertiary institutions who excelled in engineering courses and automatic employment for those of Imo origin.
In a paper presented at the lecture with the theme “State of Infrastructure In Nigeria; An embarrassment for local content Advocacy in the Construction Industry”, the guest lecturer, Engr Prof Samuel Ejezie, called on the Federal Government to cease forthwith “and indeed outlaw, the practice of appointing non engineers as Ministers, commissioners, Directors General, Directors, or Heads of engineering related ministries and units in government. It gives the wrong impression that their role is simply to manoveur funds and not to avail the nation of their engineering and technical expertise”
Ejezie, a professor of Civil and Geotechnical Engineering, and former Dean, Faculty of Engineering, University of Port Harcourt, also advised that “Engineering contracts should strictly be awarded to companies owned and managed by Engineers. The practice whereby non engineers have become the key construction contractors is very unhealthy for infrastructure development”
In his remarks, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, thanked the NSE for its consistence in organizing the lecture in his honour.
