By Jude Njoku

After a tutelage which spanned a period of eight years, Mr. Olayemi Shonubi was penultimate weekend inaugurated as the 11th Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, NIQS.

The investiture which was chaired by a former Federal Commissioner for Works, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, was attended by the President, African Association of Quantity Surveyors, Mr. Michael Frimpong, the immediate past President of the body and Association of Professional Bodies in Nigeria, APBN, Mr. Segun Ajanlekoko and the President, Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Ajele John Alufohai.

Delivering the investiture lecture which centred on “the Quantity Surveyor and National Development”, a former Director of Research, Nigerian Institute of Legal Studies, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye stated that the plethora of abandoned projects which dot the nation’s landscape can be traced to the non-engagement of quantity surveyors to determine the cost of the project at its inception.

“The regulatory approval processes demand the evidence of opinion and input of other professionals in the construction industry but not that of the QS. For example, physical planning processes demand that applicants submit architectural and structural drawings and sometimes the mechanical and electrical services drawings but not the cost of the project. The reason of course is that the regulator is more interested in the safety and health of the society rather than the financial capacity of the applicant to realize its objectives. Thus it does not request QS assessment. This is partly responsible for the

spate of abandoned projects dotting our landscape. Some were abandoned due to cost overrun others due to controversy amongst contractors, consultants and clients mostly related to cost,” he said.

Prof Owasanoye who decried massive corruption especially in the procurement of construction projects, explained that this could not have been possible if quantity surveyors are given due recognition.

“A lot of the loans were taken for construction and infrastructure development projects that were substandard, inflated and ultimately abandoned. Under a watchful regime of a vibrant association of

Quantity Surveyors, this development could have been avoided or its negative impact greatly minimized. Quantity Surveyors and construction and cost management professionals hold the key to stemming corruption in construction and infrastructure development projects in Nigeria because their

professional skills in the pricing and structuring of projects can easily expose the underbelly of corruption that attends the contracting and costing of projects in Nigeria”.

Continuing, Prof Owasanoye stated that quantity surveyors also have a role to play in eliminating or reducing capital flight from bogus foreign investments transactions through transfer by multinationals and other foreign investors.

In his own remarks after the investiture, Mr. Shonubi pledged to collaborate with the Lagos State Government in its quest to transform and expose Lagos as a tourism destination.