By LAJU ARENYEKA  & JOSEPHINE MBAEBIE

The Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Dr. M.K. Ladipo has called on professionals and academics to find a solution to the dearth of infrastructure in the country. She said this at the 4th inaugural lecture of the college recently.

The lecture, presented by the Chief Lecturer, Department of Quantity Surveying, Mr. Uduak Iyang-Udoh, was titled: Effective delivery of constitution project in Nigeria and the role of the cost counter. Inyang-Udoh spoke elaborately on cost counting as important because it prevents abandonment of projects and ensures improved quality in project delivery.

The Rector, Dr.(Mrs.) M.K. Ladipo in her remark said: “The lecture stressed that the outright neglect of cost counting or leaving it in the hands of those not trained to carry out this role, especially civil and other engineering projects, is detrimental to the interest and are trying to find solution to dearth of infrastructure in the country.”

She thereby urged project promoters and clients to obtain optimum value for their money and have their project effectively delivered in terms of cost, time and quality. In order to encourage competition, Nigeria must not only start but also  not relent in its effort to entrench international best practices in its project procurement dealings.

Buttressing the importance of cost counting with a quotation from Luke chapter 14 verses 27 to 31, he said: “This quotation amplifies the importance of cost counting, estimating and checking in all areas of life with particular emphasis on construction. It is so important that Christ emphasized it to all His and would-be followers.

Speaking on some challenges facing construction projects management in the country, he said: “It is clear that the project procurement process is still sick in Nigeria because cost counting and pre-qualification exercise are not effectively carried out and even ignored for most large civil and engineering projects. This has often led not only to high contract costs, but also significant increase in the final cost of construction, wrong choice of contractor, delay in project delivery, and sometimes abandonment of project.”

He noted that these issues have led to the domination of project procurement by non-indigenous contractors: “My research study has also shown that the construction industry is dominated by non-indigenous contractors in terms of total value of work, at the expense of the indigenous ones, on the ground that they produce better quality. However, a survey of the construction sites reveals that 100 per cent of the artisans, craftsmen and labourers engaged in such construction works are Nigerians and Togolese.”