Engr Society Real (Edited)

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Engineering is a profession of art that deals with the creation of systems, designs and building of

machines, devices and structures. It involves creativity, imagination, logical thought and vision.

The role of engineering in industrial and economic development is massive as it not only

prescribes the machines, production processes but also concerned with the management of the

resources and the balancing of the multi various constraints of the industrial environment.

Engineering must therefore not be seen in terms of screwdrivers and spanners but must be seen

as encompassing all areas of knowledge needed in ensuring that resources of all types are

effectively translated into desired products. Such areas must necessarily include management

science, economics and political science.

Institutional framework for the development of engineering refers to the basic plans intended

for the development of engineering. Here, we refer to the strategies put in place and

contributions required from all and sundry for the development of engineering.

1.1 Basic Indices of Engineering Development.

As engineering is vital for the development and progress of a country, the following basic indices can

be used to measure the level of engineering development and advancement in any country.

level of industrial production: automobiles, machine tools,ship building, aircrafts,

domestic equipment (refrigerators, cookers, air conditioners, etc), materials production

(iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, polymers and ceramics), consumer goods (textiles,

papers and fibres), small, medium and large scale industrial and manufacturing

equipment, petrochemicals.

level of agricultural development: tractors,earthmoving equipment and farm

implements, food processing equipment, planting and harvesting equipment, food

preservation and storage facilities.

level of energy produced and consumed:electric power produced and utilized for

industrial production, domestic use and public facilities, solar energy development and

utilization, nuclear energy development and utilization, biomass energy, petroleum and

gas development and use.

level of development of transportation:motorable roads, railways (surface and

underground), airports, seaports.

level of research and development: new product

development and inventions as

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evidenced from patents, fundamental research and investment on research and

development.

development of information technology and telecommunication: telephones, telex andfacsimiles (fax), internet services (e-mail, etc), computers, communication satellites in

orbits, radio and television facilities.

defence capability: military transport vehicles, tanks carriers, militaryaircraft, missiles,

guns and ammunitions, bombs and incendiary devices, naval warships.

Infrastructural development: building and general townplanning, potable water,

sewage and waste disposal, roads and other transport facilities.

development of public facilities: health facilities (hospitalequipment such as mortuary

facilities, incubators, x-ray, dental equipment, laboratory and other test equipment,

hospital furniture), sporting facilities (stadia, gymnasia, sports equipment and wares),

recreational facilities (theatres, swimming pools and amusement parks), post offices

and courier services.

2.0 ENGINEERING IN NIGERIA

Nigeria is rated amongst the worlds poorest countries (IMF, 1994; UNESCO, 1991) despite

her abundant natural and human resources. This is based on low gross national product

(GNP), high unemployment rate, low income per capita, crippling national debt and high

inflation rate. The overdependence on one product (crude oil) which is subject to vagaries of

international markets coupled with unstable political situation in the country has continued to

make the future more bleak and precarious. The economic indices used by the various world

bodies in classifying Nigeria as a poor country even tend to under-emphasise the neardesperate underdevelopment of engineering in the country. Oil proceeds seem to give a false

picture of some prosperity.

Without proper development of engineering, Nigeria cannot expect to effectively develop its

economy, infrastructures or improve the standard of living of its people. It has been suggested

in various quarters that an obvious solution to the nations economic and even political

problem is through accelerated production of agricultural and industrial goods. This can only

be possible through the development of a solid engineering base. Engr. Uujamhan, one time

President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, put this more forcefully in a press address in

Kaduna (NSE, 1997), that the economic, social and political crises in the country can be

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traced to the lack of initiatives aimed at developing the technological sector to boost the socio-

political economy of the country 1996.

2.1 OUR ENGINEERING RESOURCES

Engineering resources can be human, financial, physical and informational.

2.1.1. Human Resources

The human resources in engineering consist of engineers, technologists, technicians, craftsmen

and artisans. They are together known as the engineering family. Classification of the various

groups is as defined by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (Faluyi,

1993). The following problems are associated with the development of engineering human

resources:

poor scientific and technological background. ill-conceived educational programmes through inappropriate curricula and programme.

structures not relevant to national development both on the short run and long run

overemphasis on certificates at the expense of skill. squabbles over status of the various cadres. poor regulation of the profession (overregulation). training and skill acquisition (institutional training, laboratories, workshops, field studies,

basic instructions), SIWES, Industrial training, post-qualification NYSC engagement,

industrial engagement.

The neglect and underrating of the education and training of roadside artisans.

All the cadres of the engineering family must be properly educated and trained to be

immediately productive in industry. The Nigerian public and industry had always regarded

university-trained engineers as esoteric theoreticians whose usefulness to the public was in doubt.

The general consensus as revealed in a survey carried out by Aderoba (1990) is that an engineer

in a developing country should be able to use his hands as well as his brain.

Overhaul of Engineering Curricula

The curricula of degree programmes need to be overhauled to reflect the real needs of the

Nigerian Society. Presently, engineering curricula in the Universities and polytechnics arepatterned after those of British and American Universities. The British and American

graduates have ample opportunities in their industries to acquire needed skills and

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experience on the job whereas the Nigerian engineering environment lacks this. Some

provisions made to gain skills within institutions in the past such as SWEP, SIWES are

falling apart for lack of funds and because they have not been accorded the right priority.

Commercialisation of Engineering Facilities in Institutions

The Universities need to commercialise their facilities as well as develop the concept of

industrial villages within their campuses as avenues for translating research and

development efforts into viable engineering products and services and as avenues to

provide skills and experience to both students and lecturers alike. Such commercialization

must be done without sacrificing the quality of students training. Indeed it should be done

to enhance students training. The problems of such commercialization are numerous.

They are identified by Aderoba (1988} to include the following:

(a) Overcoming the initial inertia of a change to a commercial enterprise. Academic staff isnot used to the regularized production facilities in factories. They are not attuned to

producing engineering jobs of a marketable quality. Their promotion had hitherto not

depended on physical production but on research publications and teaching but very little

on extension services. They tend to view with disdain the introduction of a production

system which may demand a lot from them in terms of additional responsibilities and

which may not possibly contribute to their promotional prospects.

(b) The society outside the educational communities doubts the practical skills of learnedpeople, their ability to execute production jobs in a timely fashion and the slow

decision making consequent upon their bureaucratic set up. They are unwilling to

approach the Universities or Polytechnics for execution of a commercial job and will

really need to be persuaded to do so.

(c) The administration in a University is usually manned by the non-technical staff that donot always appreciate the initial difficulties of commencing commercially productive

work. It is usual for them to believe that once the machines are there, any delay in the

commencement of production is most likely due to incompetence of the technical

boys. This can be very frustrating to engineering people especially when they

themselves are probably going into commercial production for the first time.

(d) There are other technical problems such as technical manpower requirements, fundingand sourcing of raw materials, production scheduling and control, product design and

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product costing which have to be given detailed consideration before

commercialization can effectively commence.

The study by Aderoba (1988) provides a methodological systems approach through which

commercialization can take place in a University setting and has demonstrated this with an

application to the engineering workshop at Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

Development of Basic Skills

A typical mechanical engineering graduate ought to be fairly skilled after five years of

University education in the following areas:

basic design of simple machineries and equipment involving simple mechanicaltransmission systems such as shafts, gears, pulleys, chains and hydraulic and

pneumatic transmission systems.

practical working experience in manufacturing processes such as turning, milling,grinding, welding assembly and disassembly methods.

be able to diagnose faults and repair commonplace machineries and equipment such asautomobiles, refrigerators, air conditioners.

repair of industrial equipment such as motors, pumps, materials handling equipment andproduction machineries such as lathes, milling machines, hydraulic and pneumatic

equipment.

Training for Self Employment.

The engineering graduate must also be trained for self-employment (Aderoba, 2000).

Adequate provision must be made in the school curricula for him to acquire basic appreciation

of entrepreneurship, engineering project management and works management, basic

accounting principles particularly those involving costing and financial performance indices

and principles of marketing. Combined honours degrees in engineering and management

sciences may even be introduced to achieve this.

Status of Various Cadres in Engineering

The dichotomy between the engineering graduate and polytechnic graduate is

counterproductive. If one were to look at it objectively, this dichotomy is a British elitist idea.

There is virtually no difference in the course contents of the degree and HND programmes to

warrant the discrimination. Indeed, both programmes are presently lacking in skill

development and are gravitating more and more into engineering sciences. The British whointroduced polytechnic programmes into Nigeria have already phased them out in their

country. All the polytechnics are now converted to Universities and University colleges. The

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existing HND programmes in Britain are gradually being phased out and replaced with degree

programmes.

To avoid unnecessary squabbles over cadre categorization and to promote skills at all levels, a

unitary system of engineering education has been advocated by Aderoba (1990). This consists

of a six year post secondary programme with:

The first two years devoted to advanced craft training leading to the award of craft certificate.

The next two years should be devoted to technician training leading to the award of a

technician diploma followed by the last two years in engineering leading to the award of a

degree in engineering.

Only students with good results at one level should be considered for admission at the next

level otherwise that candidate would only earn the terminal certificate of that level.

The implication of this unitary system is that engineers would have been properly trained as

technicians and as craftmen before becoming engineers. This approach makes engineers more

useful to the Nigerian industry.

The technical college system has been utterly neglected and relegated all over the country to

the extent that only those who dropped out of high schools or failed school certificate

examinations patronize these institutions. This is an unfortunate trend. The technical college

system must be upgraded and equipped to provide sound basic science education and craft

training. The NABTEB certificate must consequently be preferred over WAEC certificate for

admission into the engineering schools of this country if this country must make technological

and industrial progress.

The 6-3-3-4 educational system is good in principle but deficient in its implementation. All

products of the Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) practically go to the Senior SecondarySchools (SSS) into science or arts classes. The technical content of the SSS has almost been

totally abandoned.

The OND programme is more of a watered down HSC programme with excursions into

technical territories. It should be restructured to fit the technician phase of Aderobas unitary

engineering training system.

Training of Artisans

Roadside artisans account for more than 80% of the engineering family in this country. Indeed,

they have been the saving grace for preventing the total collapse of many engineering

infrastructures and facilities. They include automechanics, welders, plumbers, bricklayers,

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electricians, plant mechanics, radionics, painters, etc. They are however not certificated in the

formal sense and no provisions have been made for them to upgrade their skills for flexibility

and ability to innovate. Governments must institute a programme of continuing education for

these groups of artisans in league with the guilds and craft associations. The practical training

imparted by roadside workshops need to be complemented by a formalized programme of

extension education to improve the scientific, technical, business and civic abilities of the

artisan. Such a programme will have positive effects on the general level of productivity of

Nigeria. Details of an approach for organizing such a programme including its curricula

development, finance and programme management are provided in a study conducted by the

lecturer (Aderoba, 1994c)

The test certificates are rarely evidence of skill. They are in the main bought from

Government officials. There is a need to get the guide and crafts associations involved not

only in the continuing education for artisans but in the issuance of trade test certificates.

2.1.2 Financial Resources

This is capital or money for engineering development. It is required for:

development of appropriate engineering institutions and training centers with adequate

provision of machinery, equipment, tools and training aids including suitable textbooks,

journals, etc.

development of engineering infrastructures research and development dissemination of engineering and technological information. Development of industries and industrial goods (small, medium and large scale).Machinery

Nearly all industrial machineries, equipment and tools are imported except for few locally

fabricated machines. This is very unhealthy for the national economy. Machineries must be

developed from within through individual engineers and developers, engineering institutions,

research and development centers, industries etc. Many policies for machine development

have been advanced. They include:

Fundamental development through recourse to basic design principles and progressive trialand error development. This is cumbersome, long and capital intensive.

Collaboration with overseas machine developers. This may work if such overseascollaborators are sure of deriving great benefits from such joint ventures. Conditions for

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attracting collaborators include favourable local markets, stable political and economic

policies such as those concerned with foreign investments and repatriation of proceeds,

stable currencies. This option has been known by names such as technical collaboration,

transfer of technology, etc.

Copy technology. This process consists of identifying needed machines, disassembling

various models of such machineries; identifying the most efficient designs within the various

models; copy such designs and develop them. This policy is known by various names such

as copy technology (Balogun, 1989), reverse engineering (Nwachukwu, 1988), adaptive

technology, etc. The process of copy technology can be expensive as money must be available

to buy various models of the machines in the first place. Also some copying techniques may

require destructive testing to determine the types of materials required. India, Malaysia, Japan

and many newly industrialized economies adopted this approach successfully. It however

requires a lot of governmental or centralized planning and inputs for success.

Also, successful machine development requires adequate capital, solid development of raw

materials (ferrous and non-ferrous), stable electric power and skilled manpower.

Infrastructure:

The energy infrastructure primarily under NEPA is the biggest infrastructural problem limiting

engineering development in Nigeria. Productivity is reduced drastically as a result of low

electricity generation and usage. Other infrastructural problems include NITEL, Roads, Rail,

Air and Seaports. NITEL has virtually cut off all national and international links which can

promote engineering development. The INTERNET is still news to many Nigerians and

industrial concerns such as NITEL cannot provide the needed services to effectively link up

with the rest of the world. Rail link must also be established all over the country. This

requires specialized industries for producing rails, coaches, signal equipments, etc.

2.1.4 Information Resources

Information resources constitute the knowledge for engineering development. This includes

knowledge for development of basic and applied science, acquisition and dissemination of

technology and engineering: and for training and development of skilled manpower. Related

to this is the development of data banks for engineering and technology, the establishment of

engineering extension centers and industrial villages.

2.2 ENGINEERING PROCESSES

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These are the processes through which resources are translated into engineering products. The

processes include the knowledge, the technical and managerial skills required for design,

development, operation, management of engineering products, facilities and infrastructures.

Girvan in 1981 (cited in Akinbinu, 1997) defined these processes as technological capability

which consists of the ability to identify the most relevant technology for a particular purpose,

to acquire it on the best possible terms, and, once acquired to assimilate the technology

internally. It also includes the ability to modify the acquired technology so as to adapt it to the

specific circumstances of the user. Ultimately, it includes the ability to create innovations from

within and to apply these innovations internally as well as market them commercially

These processes can be acquired basically through the following means

(Akinbinu,1997).(i) education and training within and outside the country

(ii) flow of books, journals and other published information such as trade literature, standards,

patent information and more lately on the internet.

(iii) informal personal contacts and observations through travel, meetings and conferences

and visits to production sites.

(iv) exchange of information and personnel through technical cooperation programmes

(v) employment of foreign experts and consultancy arrangements

(vi) import of machinery equipment with literature and technical information supplied

(vii) import of intermediate products in particular those considered technology

intensive (viii) reverse engineering

(ix) technical specifications, standards and training provided by importers (x) license

agreements to use proprietary know-how, patents, production processes and trademarks

(xi) foreign direct investments which bring with them all the necessary elements of technicalknow-how.

2.2.1. Basic Engineering Research

Engineering research in Nigeria has been basically unguided. In the Universities, lecturers

and researchers initiate and conduct their research primarily to enable them to publish articles

which will earn them promotions. The more esoteric and analytical the research, the more

recognized it is in matters of promotion. Worse still, articles published in international

journals which rarely find their ways to Nigeria are more recognized.

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This however does not mean that engineering research in Nigeria has not focused on the needs

of Nigerian society. There have been genuine attempts by many engineering researchers both

in the universities and the research institutions to develop machineries for agricultural and

industrial production and to introduce new methods of processing engineering materials and

goods. The results of many of these efforts are rarely known to the public and most are not

commercialised.

Engineering research needs to be directed primarily at solving the nations immediate and long

term problems. Governments cannot be indifferent to engineering research activities.

Government organs must identify areas of research needs, publicise such areas, contract such

research to interested experts, fully fund them and ensure that such research is conducted

within a specified period.

The application of research findings must be emphasized. Establishment of industrial villages

in all the Universities in the country is a viable means of promoting the application of research

findings. The private sectors may be encouraged to establish prototype industries within the

industrial villages of universities.

The research institutes of government should not be merely avenues for employment but must

be expanded with production facilities to carry out research and to translate research findings

into physical goods and services. They should be empowered to develop their own industrial

villages and settlements.

2.2.2 Development of Indigenous TechnologyWhile admitting that the adoption of Western Technology is mandatory for our technological

takeoff, it behoves on us to apply western science and technology to improve on some

indigenous production facilities and processes such as textile production (aso-oke),blacksmithy, foundry works, etc. Some efforts which have been made in these directions

include the mechanization of local textile looms by Mohammed and Aderoba (2000) and the

mechanization of local blacksmithies by Oke and Aderoba (2000).

The magic of today is the science of tomorrow. In the 17th century, certain present day

knowledge in chemistry, astrophysics, computer science and military science would have been

regarded as heresy. In the same vein, certain traditional believes in tele-transportation

(Egbe), sound energy (incantations ogede), immunity to physical attack (okigbe)

which are now carelessly being dismissed as arrant nonsense under the guise of religion needs

to be scientifically investigated. They may well provide the basis of our engineering prowess

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and superiority in the twenty-second century.

2.3.1. Establishment of Industries and Engineering Service Facilities.Many industries of all types and categories need to be established to create national wealth and

to provide employment for the teeming population. Large scale industries such as iron and

steel, petrochemicals, machine tools, heavy electricals, automotive plants etc. are so capital

intensive that they can only be embarked upon by governments and few wealthy Nigerians.

Recent experience has even shown that such projects established by governments are facing

hard times as a result of poor funding, poor management and the absence of essential

engineering infrastructures in the country (Oyeyinka et. al., 1997; Akinbinu, 1977)

Many of such projects such as the steel mills, machine tools, fertilizer companies are of a high

technology nature and can only be effectively sustained with foreign participation. Such

foreign participation is only possible when the country is seen to be buoyant and stable. The

present situation in Nigeria does not give much confidence to foreign investors and

technological collaborators.

The way forward seems to be through the establishment of hundreds of thousands of small and

medium scale industries. Such industries require comparatively less capital with a

technological

requirement that is more tractable within a Nigerian setting. The management of such

industries poses less difficulty than is the case with large scale industries. The private sector

is also better 23 placed to develop small and medium scale industries with greater

effectiveness than the large industries.

To develop the country economically, greater attention must be paid to the development of

small and medium scale industries. India, The Koreas, Taiwan, Malaysia and a host of newly

emerging industrial powers in the Far East choose this path of growth. Today, many of their

small and medium scale industries of yesteryears have metamorphosed into giant international

concerns.

The growth of small and medium scale industries in Nigeria has been rather slow. This is as a

result of the following factors (Aderoba, 1998):

(i) the dearth of entrepreneurs who are appreciative of the technical processes ofproduction.

(ii) lack of capital by many interested persons11


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(iii) non provision or poor provision of necessary infrastructures such as electricity, water,telephone and motorable roads.

(iv) lack of information on technology of manufacture(v) stiff competition from importers(vi) poor development of basic raw materials such as ferrous and non-ferrous metals (e.g.

steel, aluminium, copper, cast iron), plastics, agricultural produce, etc.

(vii) poor development of basic industries e.g. machine tools industry, foundry,transformer plants, chemicals and petrochemicals.

(viii) ineffective support from government bodies.(ix) poor emphasis on engineering education.

It is a matter for regret that many engineers are happy enough to seek employment in

government and private sectors. This is unlike the medical profession where virtually every

Nigerian doctor wants to establish his own hospital. Engineers, technologists, technicians and

craftsmen must make it part of their dream to have industries or engineering service facilities

of their own right from the time they are admitted to engineering or technical schools. If

engineers

fail in this, then our industrial future would have been totally left in the hands of others who by

virtue of their not having the right engineering background have a greater risk to fail. This does

not however imply that non-engineers should not and cannot aspire to establish industries and

engineering service facilities.

There is no law in Nigeria that prevents engineers (whether employed in the public or private

sectors) from establishing an industry. If such laws exist, then they are unprogressive laws

and should be scrapped. The only regulation is that engineers engaged in public service

should not run industries for themselves or for others on a day to day basis. This regulation is

also morally justifiable. All engineers should therefore take up this challenge either in the

development of industries or engineering service facilities.

Electricity

Supply of electricity is the biggest operational problem facing industries in this country. An

interview of the Nigerian Journal of Engineering Management (NJEM) with a distinguished

Professor of Electrical Engineering Prof. P. A. Kuale (2000) reveals the following about the

electricity demand and supply problem in Nigeria.

We need to close up the national grid from Kano through the eastern wing, so that any part of

this country can tap electricity from the national grid.

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There is very little generation in the eastern part of the country except AFAM. This does not

create the necessary balance for electricity generation. This balance is necessary to reduce

losses in the grid.

Worldwide, the utilization of coal is still supreme in electric generation. Why has this country

refused to produce electrical energy from coal? The coal deposits in Nigeria are said to be

nearly inexhaustible. The only coal generating plant in Orji river has been closed down. Even

the railway designed to carry coal from the coalfields of Enugu have been closed down. In

addition, the coal miners are not working as they should. Attempt is being made to export coal

and not use it for ourselves. The technology of coal fired plants which we all need in order to

diversify our method of energy production has been stifled by those who plan energy

generation in Nigeria.

2.3.2. Development of Infrastructural Facilities

The major infrastructural facilities requiring immediate attention for engineering development

of Nigeria include electricity, telephones, airports, railways and roads.

We must get in our fingers tips, in our brains, in our minds, all the methods now available for

electric energy production so that there are Nigerians who are capable to design, to install, to

operate, to maintain, and to run each of these well known methods of energy supply be it

hydro, gas turbine, steam turbine and even solar.

We need to develop technology from within. The knowledge for making transformers is

readily available to use. The British have little or no copper but import it and use for

transformer production. The next material for making transformers is iron. We are hopeful

that when our iron and steel companies are producing, we should be able to produce

transformer laminations in the years ahead. Meanwhile, we may wish to invite foreign

companies to set up transformer manufacturing plants in Nigeria which will be able to serve

the West African sub-region. The Ministry of Science and Technology needs to act to ensure

domestic production of vital equipment such as transformers.

There is a strong need for a transformer refurbishment industry. There are many broken down

transformers which could be easily refurbished. A study conducted by me (Kuale) sometimes

back show that there are over 170 broken down transformers of various capacities lying

between Warri and Benin. Governments, NEPA or private investors may wish to look at this

area.

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It is true that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Company (NESCO) sells power to NEPA and the

power is consumed in Jos. Private participation in electric power supply is welcome but we

must be aware that investment in small-scale electric power plants in uneconomic. Big power

stations should be encouraged because of the need to feed the national grid. The private sector

should be

allowed to participate in electricity generation and distribution. However, privatization based on

foreign controlled companies is dangerous and not self-sustaining. Indigenous privatization is

more healthy and more enduring. Nobody will come to develop this country for us. We may

need their help but we must learn to control our destiny by ourselves. The same thinking

holds for NITEL, Nigerian Railways, Airways, Sea Ports and other public utilities.

The accurate forecast of the real electrical energy demand in Nigeria over a planning horizon

so that commensurate plans can be made to fill this need. A doctoral student under me is

already working in this area.

The review of present NEPA tariffs to favour industrial production rather than domestic

consumption.

The decoupling of electricity management particularly distribution to state levels without

affecting the national grid generation concept.

Telephones

An efficient telephone system is fast replacing communication by land, road and sea. The

telephone system in Nigeria is in utter state of despondency. Up to 1989, Nigeria was served

by an analogue telecommunications network. However, NITEL has been tying to effectmodernization through digitalization of its trunk network, introduction of new radio systems,

use of optical fibre cables and use of satellite communication facilities and the trans-atlantic

submarine cable.

The constraints faced by NITEL in its modernization programmes include high cost of

technology (machinery/experience, technical expertise, licensing fees, etc), high replacement

costs of systems, lack of adequate foreign exchange to import machinery and lack of

indigenous machinery manufacturer (Akinbinu, 1998).

The telecommunication industry is a fast changing high-tech industry. The present engineering

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base of the country is too weak to sustain rapid growth in telecommunication industry without

suitable collaboration with developed countries by way of joint ventures, partnerships and direct 27

foreign ownerships. In doing this however, we must be careful to protect the security of this country.

2.3.3 Development of Information Systems

Books including journals, monographs and other technical brochures, computer facilities such

as Internet constitute the major information system for the development of engineering. The

naked truth is that there are very few engineering books to give adequate training to our

engineering personnel. The imported books are very costly and out of reach of the average

engineering student.

Before the issue of handouts became a taunt by the general public on lecturers, I have been

convinced that there is a strong need to develop the engineering book industry from within.

This was the basis for my authorship of five different books in engineering for which I am

immensely proud.

Handouts should be standardized and controlled and not banned or treated with decision as

being done now. Handouts can provide the impetus for the development of the engineering

book industry. It behoves every University to set up a standard press to produce engineering

books. I am glad to have set up such a publishing press in which my colleagues are now

turning to for publication of their books and monographs.

2.4 ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENT

The engineering environment presents opportunities for and limitations to engineering growth

and development.

2.4.1 Engineering Environmental factors

The engineering environmental factors can be classified as follows (Aderoba, 1995):

(i) Socio-economic

This includes the labour market, the commodity market, prices and wages, customs, norms

and attitudes, income per capita and income distribution, rate of growth of the economy,

demography, unemployment rate, etc.

All these socio-economic factors affect the rate of engineering development in no small

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measure. For example, the labour market structure has been the cause of collapse of many

small and medium scale industries. The typical Nigerian worker exhibits low productivity at

work. He is often frustrated as a result of low wages, unstable tenure and inability to cope with

the harshness of the Nigerian economy. The employer in the same vein is often saddled with

the inexperienced low skilled workers who often resort to pilfering to make ends meet.

(ii) Technological

This relates to the availability of materials, equipment and technical services, technical

knowledge and supporting infrastructure. It also includes the absorptive capacity for new

technology and the existence of organised efforts for the acquisition or transfer of technology.

(iii) Political

This concerns the stability of political and governmental organizations, laws and regulations

as they relate to engineering development. It also includes the efficiency of government

actions and the reactions of all the stakeholders of engineering development.

(iv) Physical

This includes geographical factors relating to sources of materials and to potential sites of

engineering projects. It also includes problems of environmental sanitation and pollution.

These factors must be adequately considered in the planning and execution of engineering

projects.

Of importance in this wise is the need to protect the physical environment. Many industries in

Nigeria are already known to be polluters of the environment. The major pollutants include

oil spillage and gas flaring by oil companies, and solid wastes by many other manufacturingcompanies.

Federal and State Governments have established environmental protection agencies for

protecting the physical environment. Most industrial building projects now need to be backed

up with environmental impact reports before they are approved. It is a matter for concern that

such environmental impact reports are just official requirements requiring no detailed scrutiny.

Effective guidelines and framework such as those developed by Aderoba (1996) must be

adopted for assessing public and private projects with regard to promotion of employment

generation, infrastructural development, and growth in investment level per capita while

limiting the negative impacts of overpopulation and atmospheric pollution to acceptable

levels.

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2.4.2 The Role of Governments in Improving the Engineering Environment

A local politician on a campaign trail once asserted that political power is next only to gods

power. The inference from this assertion is that once the political base is healthy and strong,

the sky is the limit. This inference holds true for the role of governments in the development

of engineering environment in Nigeria.

Governments have a strong role to play in the development of engineering resources,

engineering processes, engineering products as well as the engineering environment although

it is in itself part of the engineering environment.

Governments, particularly the Federal Government, have established or encouraged the

establishment of organizations to promote the development of small and medium scale

industries in Nigeria.

These organizations include:

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assist small scale industries with feasibility studies and technical advice.

Technology Business Incubation Center (TBIC) established at Agege in 1993 with an

enabling decree signed in 1995 with the mission to nurture the start and expansion of small

and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria primarily through the commercialization of the

results of research and development from Research Institutes, Universities and relevant

institutions.

The National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) was established by

decree 70 of 1979 as a corporate institution with responsibility for promoting the acquisition

of appropriate foreign technology required for facilitating the technological and industrial

development of the country.

The Regional Centre for Technology Management in Africa (RECTEM) established in Lagos

is a Federal Government/UNESCO response to the crying need for accelerated human

resources development in the management of science and technology to enhance

technological capability of African countries.

The establishment of RAIDS (Rural Agro-Industrial Development Scheme) as a unit of the

Federal Ministry of Agriculture in 1981 to develop appropriate technologies to process agro-products such that the high post-harvest losses can be contained and at the same time serves

as the vehicle of rural industrialization.

Establishment by the Federal Government of the National Science and Technology Centre

Museum.

Liaison with national and international organizations dealing with science and technology

information activities such as The Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau Interntional (CABI),

African Regional Centre and Technology Information (ARCTI), International Nuclear

Information Service (INIS), etc.

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) was esstablished

in 1992 to facilitate the attainment of a self reliant economy through the 31

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establishment of a national science and engineering infrastructure which will provide

the necessary foundation for the local mass production of capital goods by private

sector industries. This agency has tried to fulfill its mission by establishing the

following five development centers.

(i) Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI), Enugu. This center is todevelop products and technologies required to meet the national education

science equipment requirements in physics, chemistry, biology, integrated

science, agricultural science, technical drawing and mathematics in order to

enhance the quality of science education.

(ii) Scientific Equipment Development Institute (SEDI), Minna. This center hasthe same mission as SEDI, Enugu.

(iii) Scientific Equipment Development Institute (EMDI), Akure. The mission ofthis center is to develop engineering materials, spares, systems and processes that

can be duplicated and mass produced by entrepreneurs.

(iv) Hydraulic Equipment Development Institute (HEDI), Kano. The center is todevelop the capacity for the local manufacture of hydraulic power equipment.

(v) Centre for Adaptation of Technology (CAT), Awka. The center is to developthe technologies required by the electronic materials and equipment industries.

All these centers are being established in addition to several research institutes such as The

Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIRO), Nigeria Stored Products Research

Institute, Ilorin (NSPRI), National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology

(NACGRAB), and many other specialized Universities and institutions.

The United Nations, through one of its agencies, also established The African Regional Centre

for Engineering Design and Manufacture (ARCEDEM) at Ibadan to promote production

engineering in the African sub-region.

These national and international attempts to accelerate engineering development seem to have

little effect for the following reasons:

The new promotional facilities are yet to take off effectively as a result of lack of funds and

political will.

Many of the older facilities are being managed by uncommitted government functionaries and

political appointees whose agenda may be the enrichment of themselves through graft and


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hoarding of vital technical information. This attitude is often borne out of the unstable

political situation in the country whose appointees know that their tenure is as secure as the

governments which appoint them: the tendency then is to make hay while the sun shines.

The performance of these promotional facilities are not effectively monitored through

introduction of specific yardsticks of evaluation.

There is inadequate public enlightenment on the work and services rendered by the various

promotional activities.

Besides the above promotional activities connected with establishment of industries,Government must adopt policies which will promote equitable revenue allocation and

equitable allocation of public facilities and infrastructures across the country to promote

optimization of social, economic and technical impacts. Even for private sector projects,

government must through its various arms ensure that private projects with foreign exchange

content must be approved to meet the overall socio-economic goals of the country.

In doing this, Governments must not be guided by rules of thumb but must adopt modern

systems analysis and evaluation techniques. My works which could be useful in this area

include goal programming algorithms for equitable allocation of facilities with multiple

impacts (Aderoba 1991a), public selection of private projects for foreign exchange allocation

(Aderoba, 1991b) and optimization of national revenue allocation (1994a).

2.4.3 Mass Mobilization for Engineering Development

The general public must be mobilized for engineering development. Arms of governments

involved in information, enlightenment and mobilization must be geared up on an evangelical

scale to mobilize the nation for accelerated engineering development. Many people do not know

what to produce let alone how to produce them. They are also worried about how to raise capital for

engineering projects. These governmental agencies including the IDCs must enlighten the people

using electronic media, newspapers, billboards, etc. Scientists, engineers, technologists and

economists have a role to play in this mass mobilization crusade by preparing suitable project

profiles and technical brochures which can be readily understood by the people.

Churches, mosques, communities, social clubs and associations must be encouraged to start

industries. These organizations are rich and can mobilize. While it may amount to heresy to


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suggest that the religious organizations should be taxed, it may not be unreasonable to suggest

that a law be passed to compel all such organizations to use a percentage of their gross

incomes to embark on monitored industrial projects. Registration and recognition should only

be given to those religious organizations, social and community organizations who comply

with such government industrial proclamations or directives.

Industrial estates must be developed all over the country preferably through the mortgage

banks and industrial premises should be rented out to investors at reasonable rates. Suitable

and well located industrial housing is one of the headaches of project engineering as it

unnecessarily escalates the capital investments on projects. The little available capital should

be used for machinery and working capital. The development of industrial estates can beenhanced if engineers and scientists can develop low cost building materials. Architects must

also focus on developing simple industrial buildings which can be constructed and expanded

in a modular form (Aderoba. 1997).

National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Community Banks, Peoples Banks, Nigerian

Bank for Commerce and Industry, Industrial Development Banks etc are previous attempts to

provide readily available funds for industrial investors. Also pet programmes of the various

first ladies known under different cognomens have attempted to provide equipment and

machineries for rural and cottage industries. There is a need to overhaul these various

financial institutions as well as the commercial banks to ensure that serious minded investors

receive needed funds at the right time.

3.0 CONCLUSION


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No nation of the world can survive without engineering. Nigeria as a case study has sufficient

resources for the development of engineering in the country. Implementation and execution of

policies that will promote engineering is all that is required. If the above framework can be

successfully executed, then Nigeria will rank among the countries advanced in engineering and

technology in the world today. REFERENCES

Aderoba A (1998). Science and Technology to the Rescue in the Structuring of the Nigerian

Economy. The journal of Technoscience, Vol. 1. No.1.

Aderoba A (2000). Self-Employment: A Challenge to engineering Graduates in Nigeria.

Nigerian Journal of Engineering Management (NJEM), Vol. 1. No 3.

Aderoba A (2000). Strategies for Engineering Development in Nigeria.

Akinbinu A.F. (1998). Improved Technologies and the Performance of the Nigerian

Telecommunications Ltd. NISER Monograph. Series No 12, Ibadan , pp67.

Balogun S.A. (1989). Copy Technology as Vehicle for Industrial Development. Annual

Foundation Lecture. Federal University of Technology, Akure.

Bello E.I. (2000). A Study of Product Innovation in Nigerias Manufacturing Industry.

Nigerian Journal of Engineering Management (NJEM). Vol. 4. No.1 pp 53-56.

Freeman C. (1987). Technology Policy and Economic Performance: Lessons from Japan.

Printer Publishers. London.

Idris M.O. and Aderoba A. (2000) An Integrated Investment Model for New Jobshops.

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Kuale P.A. (2000). Personality Profile. Nigerian Journal of Engineering Management

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Mohammed T.I. and Aderoba A (2000). Time Study Analyses of the Processes of Traditional

Weaving Looms. FUTAJEET, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 41-46.

NSE ( 1996). The Nigerian Engineer, Vol. 34, No 3.

Oke P.K. and Aderoba A (2000). Mechanization of Heat Treatment Facilities in Local

Blacksmithies. Nigerian Journal of Engineering Management (NJEM), Vol. 1, No.1, pp20-26.

Oyeyinka B.O, Laditan G.O.A., Kajogbola O.D., Akinbinu A.F. (1997). Ailing Public

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Documents

Engr Society Real (Edited)