Engineering academy inducts Ex-UNILAG VC as president, 13 new fellows

The Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) has inducted the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Rahamon Bello, as its president.

The inauguration of Mr Bello as the 13th president of the academy, which was held in UNILAG, also coincided with the presentation of lifetime achievement awards to eight fellows and the induction of 13 senior engineers as fellows of the academy.

Mr Bello, a Professor of Chemical Engineering and the current Chairman of the Governing Council of Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State, had served as the Vice President of the Academy between 2022 and 2024 before his installation as the academy’s president on Thursday.

He will be deputised by the immediate past Executive Vice-Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Danbatta.

In his welcome address, the 12th President of the academy, Azikwe Onwualu, highlighted NAE’s activities in the last one year while congratulating the new inductees.

“We welcome all new fellows to the academy. You are aware this is the apex engineering organisation in Nigeria. I congratulate you on this feat of joining the forum of top engineers in the country,” Mr Onwualu said.

“The NAE is a think tank, so you are expected to use your wealth of experience to provide advice to the government at all levels.

“Following your induction today, you are expected to join at least one of the technical committees of the academy through which you make your contributions to public policy.”

The professor added that fellows are required to present a policy paper within the next year, making recommendations on solutions to at least one engineering problem in Nigeria.

The first Female President of NAE, Joana Maduka, delivered the 2024 public lecture titled: “Government-Industry Academia Collaboration in Nigeria’s Technopreneurship Ecosystem.”

Investiture of the 13th President of NAE

New president speaks

Giving his address at his investiture, Mr Bello said NAE as the apex body of engineers in the country holds the potential to lead engineers and other stakeholders to make Nigeria great, “only if, the potentials are tapped.”

“This academy combines the best of engineering academics and practitioners. Hence, any position proffered by the academy has gone through the grill of both worlds,” he said.

He noted that the average age of fellows in the academy is currently about 74 with those less than 70 being only about 37 per cent.

“This depicts the experience in all spheres of engineering being concentrated in the academy,” Mr Bello noted.

“We are also spread across 14 engineering disciplines, including the well-known ones like Agricultural, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, to the less populated like Marine, Mining, Nuclear, and Aeronautical, among others.”

According to Mr Bello, the academy must find a way to get the governments and other stakeholders in Nigeria to make use of this great potential through advocacy and policy briefs.

“This should continue unabated, and some synergy must be established to influence in the areas of our expertise,” he said.

“Closely related to this, is our role, in conjunction with other engineering stakeholders (NSE, COREN, among others) to ensure appropriate training, development, and deployment of the engineer in Nigeria to meet the developmental needs of the nation.”

Strategic plan

Speaking further, Mr Bello noted that the NAE’s strategic plan has just been reviewed, adding that the academy has commenced efforts to devote attention to the re-development of technical and vocational education and skills in Nigeria.

He said: “We should be able to walk the talk and force our way to make a difference in this nation. The dearth of the lowest cadre of the engineering family (the technicians and artisans) in Nigeria must be immediately addressed.

“The promotion of engineering businesses will see the nation back on its feet. Manufacturing is at its lowest ebb in Nigeria today.

“We must reengineer this and work hard with all stakeholders to aggressively promote engineering businesses in various facets, as this will be the way to strengthen the nation’s economy.”

Collaboration

Meanwhile, Mrs Maduka in her lecture emphasised the need for government-industry-academia collaboration in Nigeria’s ecosystem, highlighting the benefits, challenges and opportunities for improvement.

She recommended policy reforms in a bid to streamline regulatory processes to facilitate easier collaboration; investment in academic research and technopreneurship programmes, especially with profile objectives.

READ ALSO: UNILAG, alumni set to host Communications Festival

She added that there is a need to update academic curricula to better reflect industry needs and emerging technologies, with the exposure of Nigerian academia to foreign experiences.

“The opportunities for growth and improvement are vast through government-industry-academia collaboration,” she said.

“GIA is essential for fostering innovation, economic growth, and sustainable development in Nigeria’s technopreneurship ecosystem.”

Mrs Maduka is the current Chairman, Board of Trustees, Association of Women in Business Network (ANWBN).

Awardees, new fellows

Mr Onwualu said some of the recipients of the lifetime achievement awards, including the former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Barnabas Gemade, who have attained the age of 75, have made significant cobtributions to the engineering profession.

The other awardees are Lawson Adekoya, Usman Aliyu, Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide, Rahamon Bello, Hammed Gumel, Salihu Mustafa, and Ernest Ndukwe.