The Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE) on Wednesday conferred fellowship status on 52 engineers that have distinguished themselves in different fields of engineering.
The event, which took place in Abuja, is the 21st in the series of conferment Lecture and ceremony and had the theme “Nigeria Drainage Pattern and Flood Events”.
While conferring the fellowship on them, the President of NSE, Tasiu Gidari-Wudil, congratulated the awardees for attaining the prestigious fellowship status of the society.
“Upon your conferment as a fellow, you will become a member of the NSE College of Fellows, a privilege that signals the commencement of another journey of responsibility to the Society.
“The responsibility of carrying yourselves with the dignity that the fellowship status bestows, responsibility of increasing your efforts at participating in NSE activities and making contributions to the growth of the Society.
It also includes “the responsibility of being an NSE Ambassador by delivering valuable services to the development of our beloved nation in your respective endeavours.
“In addition, you must know that you have also acquired the responsibility of being a role model to younger engineers, and to those who need inspiration to join the engineering profession,’’ Wudil said.
According to him, such occasions have always been used to focus on burning issues of the day, such as the recurrent issue of flooding in Nigeria on which the theme of the ceremony resolves.
He, therefore, called on all conferees to pay keen attention to the lecture while congratulating the Board of Fellows for undertaking the meticulous screening and assessment procedures to produce the Society’s Fellows.
Also speaking at the occasion, Mrs Ebele Okeke, Chairman, Board of Fellows/College of Fellows, said the board did its due diligence and found the 52 conferees worthy of the fellowship.
According to her, the 52 engineers have distinguished themselves in the practice and promotion of engineering; they have been conferred with the fellowship of the society which is the highest level any practising engineer in Nigeria can attain.
Okeke said that was why the membership strength of the society increased to 80,000.
“Only 18 per cent have been elevated to the fellowship grade, so any engineer that had FNSE is accorded the recognition and privileges of this society.
Guest Lecturer at the ceremony, Prof. Emmanuel Adanu, Director General, National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, said that drainage was mostly responsible for flooding.
Adanu listed some states that had witnessed flooding to include Adamawa in 2012, Kaduna 2017, Jibiya in Katsina; Abeokuta, Ogun in 2018, Jigawa 2020, Ningi, Bauchi; kotonkarfe, Lokoja; Belyasa, Benue, Imo in 2022.
“What we need to do is to establish a way water will be flowing; the pattern of flow when it rains in all parts of the country and we have sufficient information to reduce flooding in Nigeria.
“Basically, before you do that you must understand the behaviour of water, especially surface water as well as ground water.
“The essence of it is to make sure that in future, like the flood we are having now, it’s minimised because you can never stop flood and people will be able to at least, contain some of the effects.
“Just like in building collapse that has to do with the architectural and structural.
For us that have to do with water, you know water is a very silent destroyer; it finds a way in there and undermines everything until the damage is done.
Adanu, therefore, advised that water must be prevented from going to places it was not supposed to go, through the construction of dams, building drains, enforcement of development control among other control mechanisms.
Among the 52 engineers conferred with fellowship are Mr Usman Abubakar, Mrs Omolola Adetona, Mr Olusegun Adeyemi, Mr David Esezobor, Mrs Joan Arimanwa and Mr Vincent Chukwu.
Others are Mrs Elozino Olaniyan, Mr Babangida Lawal, Mr Muntari Lawal, Mr Charles Okorie, Mr Aduagba Kareem and Mrs Olukorede Kesha. Read more.
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