The Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, has bagged an Honorary Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).
The lawmaker has also said that the state of the nation’s roads would be difficult to fix without new laws to address the challenges of roads funding and governance.
Engr. Rabiu Ali, Speaking on Wednesday as he led a delegation of the the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) to present the letter of Honorary Fellow to Okechukwu at the National Assembly on behalf of the NSE, COREN’s President, Engr. Rabiu Ali, said the honour was in recognition of the lawmaker’s contributions to the growth and development of engineering in Nigeria, especially in amending the COREN Act.
In his words;
“Sir, what you have done for the Nigerian engineering family and profession as a whole can only be imagined.
“We appreciate it because no one that I know for the thirty something years I have been in practice in engineering has contributed so much to the development of engineering practice in Nigeria like your good self.
“To think of it, you are not an engineer. You are a lawyer by profession. So, we thought and wondered how to show appreciation.
“In COREN, we do no give awards, whether honorary or deserved, or honours. So, we approached our colleagues in NSE. There are four grades of membership in NSE. The Fellowship grade is the highest grade of membership, which is usually given to engineers, who have reached a certain level in their areas of practice and of course, non-engineers like you, who have made enormous contributions to the development engineering profession in Nigeria.
“NSE is 64 years today and since then, we have less than 20 honorary fellows of the Society and you are one of those 20 honorary fellows.
“Engineering has suffered in Nigeria. But the COREN Act that you have given us will go a long way in putting engineering in the front burner and in proper perspective in Nigeria.
“The fruits might not be seen immediately, but I want to inform that we have stated the implementation of the Act and we are already seeing signs that the Act will change the face of engineering practice in Nigeria.
“So, we are here to deliver this letter for the award of honorary fellowship of NSE to you“, Ali said.
In response, Hon. Toby who appreciated NSE for the honour has however, warned that the poor state of Nigeria’s road infrastructure would remain unless the issues of roads funding and governance were addressed.
He said;
“I am happy that the NSE placed me at the top of their professional calling and reward system.
“The other day, I was listening to the Minister and he said they had over N10 trillion liability and N765 billion outstanding certificates on completed jobs.
“There is no way you can develop the roads in this country without dealing with the issue of reforms in the system and those bills are meant to cure that.
“Anybody who tells you that road construction in this country can get to any golden era without Mr. President signing those roads reform bills passed into law by the National Assembly is joking.
“So, it is our prayer that the Roads Fund Bill and Roads Authority Bill should be paid the deserved attention and assented to by the President” he stated.