Accordingly, many of the documented cases of building collapse in Nigeria are due to the use of defective or substandard building materials, no requisite technical knowledge, non-adherence to building codes and standards, the use of non-professionals, and the high level of corruption which has ravaged every sphere of the construction industry including government and private parastatals.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to working with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) to minimize the cases of building collapses in the country.

Alhaji Kashim Shetima,   Nigeria’s Vice President, made this commitment during the opening of the 32nd Engineering Assembly, which was organized by COREN in Abuja.

There is absolutely no intention to belittle or disparage his credentials, but the fact remains that he does not meet the legal requirements for the position which he currently occupies thereby making the entire exercise a nullity.

The appointment was done in contravention of the unambiguous provisions of Section 9 of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council Act (RMRDC) 2022 which states as follows:

9 (1) There shall be appointed for the Council, a Director-General, who shall be the chief executive officer of the Council.

(2) The Director-General shall –

(a) be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Board through the Minister responsible for Science and Technology.

(b) possess at least 18 years post qualification experience in science, engineering and technology subjects with vast cognate experience in raw materials acquisition, exploitation, conservation and development.

The use of the word “shall” is an imperative command usually indicating that certain actions are mandatory and not permissive.

This contrasts with the word “may” which is generally used to indicate a permissive provision, ordinarily implying some degree of discretion.

The framers of the RMRDC Act were cognisant of these in using the word “shall” to provide needed guidance on the prerequisites or legal threshold to be met for the appointment of RMRDC DG.

The word “shall” is used in legal drafting to impose a duty. A duty the Minister and all those responsible have woefully failed to discharge.

This is no doubt a show of shame and another example of brigandage in our political culture.

I am led to believe that the current Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr. Uche Nnaji, has a Science background and should know better than to be a part of this ill-advised appointment.

President Bola Tinubu has done a reasonably good job of assigning roles to his appointees according to their areas of expertise.

It is therefore comes as a surprise that this contravention of mandatory legal requirements for appointment escaped the notice of the Presidency.

This appointment is an embarrassment and both the Minister and his appointee know it. No matter how much they try to burnish and embellish the credentials and profile of Prof. Ike-Muonso, he is neither an engineer, scientist or technologist within the contemplation of Section 9 of the Raw Materials Research And Development Council Act of 2022.

This is also an affront on the science and engineering community in Nigeria and the silence of this community is saddening.

The immediate past DG is an engineer and so also was the one before him. So what brought us to this sad state of affairs where people who are meant to enforce the rule of law continually trample on same?

Have we run out of scientists and engineers in Nigeria or are we simply to defer to the wishes of those seeking “jobs for the boys”?

I call on the Science and Engineering community to take a firm stand against this executive rascality currently going on at the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.

Entities such as the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria (PCN), Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI) should take all necessary steps to reverse this blatant usurpation of their role in such a critical Institute.

ASURI did a commendable job when it resisted the sit-tight designs of the immediate past DG of RMRDC who was intent on tenure elongation after serving two five-year terms which is the legal maximum.

I am yet to see the parent unions in research institutes in Nigeria like SSA, NASU, and especially ASURI take a stand or make a pronouncement on this illegal appointment. Or have they all been compromised or intimidated into silence?

In order to develop, science and Technology must be given its pride of place in Nigeria and political office holders who do not still know this are not worthy of their positions.

Trading in commodities or raw materials is not and will never be a Science and Engineering qualification. If it were, a lot of traders with long experiences trading in commodities can also be found for the DG role.

Prof. Ike-Muonso has never done any work in a science laboratory and will be out of his depths as DG of RMRDC. This appointment has put him in uncharted territory and dressed him in  Shakespearean borrowed robes.

The Honourable Minister is already seen by many stakeholders and Nigerians as one of the least performing ministers in the President Tinubu administration and is facing possible replacement in the rumoured imminent cabinet reshuffle.

He should tread with caution as this kind of recklessness will not help his dwindling profile.

We all recall the recent example of Chukwuemeka Woke whose appointment on the 9th of May, 2024 as the managing director of Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority was met with stiff opposition from Nigerians because he is not from the South West region.

This led to his swift removal by President Tinubu and subsequent redeployment to another agency. I join other well-meaning Nigerians to urge Mr. President to have the courage to do the right thing as always.

*Adekola Malomo writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General of NITDA, made this known when he played host to a team of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), led by its Registrar, Engr. Prof. Adisa A. Bello and a team from the Engineers Board of Kenya, led by its chairman, Engr Erastus K. Mwongera at the Corporate Headquarters of the Agency in Abuja.

The NITDA Director General stated that emerging technologies are reshaping the way engineers design and develop their equipment globally and it is a necessary step in the right direction that Africa adopts it for optimal productivity in its engineering processes.

According to Inuwa, there is need for a convergence between information technology and engineering because it would reduce cost of research and development as well as enhance innovations in real-time to achieve desired results.

“Today we are talking about data and in mechanical engineering for example, there are no longer machines on the field, there are smart and connected machines that are able to generate data for predictive maintainers and predictive analytics”, he buttressed.

While expressing his excitement at the interest in collaboration shown by the visitors, he stated that it would give room to a plethora of opportunities where ideas and expertise can be collectively harnessed to drive Africa to an enviable position.

“I am glad that Africa is now looking inward to see how to put our energies together to develop African countries. Engineers are problem solvers and as long as the solutions are local, it will require local initiative as well,” he stated.

Reiterating that information technology is pervasive and believing that Africa has all it takes to be a global superpower in the fourth Industrial Revolution, Inuwa urged the two visiting engineering bodies to develop existential capabilities and flexibility to survive and thrive.

Reaffirming that technology has been disrupting processes including engineering processes globally; Inuwa disclosed that NITDA has developed various initiatives and strategies in fortifying the innovative ecosystem within and beyond the country.

He said, “At NITDA, we are promoting innovation-driven enterprises and the target is to take it to the global market. We have initiatives that bring the youths together, build ecosystems and build solutions to our problems.”

Eulogizing the impact of information technology on the status quo of existing traditional processes, the NITDA boss stated that information technology has been phenomenally inspirational by enabling creative ideas for enhanced business value propositions and creating new approaches to solving problems.

Inuwa accentuated the need to leverage digital technologies in boosting engineering processes and urged the visitors to fully exploit the three capabilities of Ubiquitous Data where information is collected, analyzed and commercialized, Connectivity, where existential flexibility can be used in harnessing resources from the physical, digital and biological worlds and lastly, Processing Power, where trending devices can be used in enhancing job processes.

“So, if you can use these three capabilities, nothing is impossible in this world and anything you want to do, you can achieve with it,” he assured.

In his earlier remark, Prof. Bello commended NITDA for their milestone achievements over the years and appreciated the Agency for their willingness in collaborating with COREN in deploying Information Technology into engineering processes for enhanced productivity.

In the same vein, Engr. Mwongera in his remark marveled at the extraordinary work being done at the Agency’s National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).

He expressed his delight at collaborating with NITDA while using its achievements as benchmarks for up-scaling engineering processes in Kenya and the continent as a whole.