By Jude Njoku & Kingsley Adegboye

Artisans in the building industry last week in Lagos, called on the Federal and State Governments, corporate organisations and individuals to desist from hiring the services of foreign artisans to work on construction projects in the country.

The artisans who spoke through through their leaders at the just concluded 12th Lagos Housing Fair organised by Beachland Resources and Eko FM Radio in Lagos, decried the influx of Chinese,  Togolese and Ghanian artisans into the construction industry.

But the President of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, APBN, Mr Segun Ajanlekoko who described most Nigerian artisans as lazy, tasked them to improve their skills to justify their clamour for patronage.

“Today, most buildings in Nigeria have fundamental faults because our artisans are either half-baked or not baked at-all,” he said, adding that Nigeria cannot grow until we begin to utilize the services of people who are trained and properly skilled in technical things.

The former Association of African Quantity Surveyors AAQS President who was the chairman of the Fair’s Professional Services Day, used the forum to renew his campaign for the establishment of a National Construction Industry Board. to regulate the sector and ensure proper training of Nigerians  to work on construction sites.

Ajanlekoko’s remarks that many indigenous artisans are either lazy or incompetent did not go down well with members of the Association of Building Artisans of Nigeria present at the event.

Trying to justify the large number of Chinese artisans in the country, the APBN president noted that the technical agreement on some projects which are bankrolled by the Chinese companies may have made provision for the utilization of artisans from China.

The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Association of Building Artisans, Mr. Segun Olutade decried the perception that artisans are dropouts. Mr. Olutade who noted that good works must be paid for,  described poor remuneration as one of the key factors affecting their performance.

He was particularly disturbed by the influx of foreign artisans from China and neigbbouring West African countries into the country to take up jobs that should have been done by indigenous artisans. According to him, over 5,000 Chinese artisans are working in Nigeria. He further lamented that the country spends about N980 billion annually to import artisans to work in the country.

“In a country of 68 million unemployed youths, we are still justifying the influx of foreign artisans into the country, he lamented.

Also speaking at the forum, the National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, Mr Ade Omopeloye stated that Nigeria cannot continue to depend on foreign technology in the construction industry.

Meanwhile, To ease land titling in the country, the nation must continue with land reforms as being championed by the federal government.

The president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry LCCI, Mr. Goddie Ibru has called for the liberalization of the procedure for obtaining title documents on land.  The LCCI boss who stated this in a goodwill message to the fair,  said housing needs all attention it requires as a veritable platform to grow the economy.