By Bayo Wahab

Civil Engineering students of Yaba College of Technology received a firsthand look at real-world engineering practice on Thursday, March 12 when they visited the Metrospeed’s office in Lekki before being taken to the company’s ongoing 97-hectare lagoon-front smart city project site.

The visit, facilitated by their Geotechnical ​Engineering lecturer and CEO of the Engineering Resource Academy, Dr. Omolola Adetona, was designed to bridge the gap between classroom theory and practical engineering experience, exposing the students to one of Lagos State’s most ambitious real estate developments currently underway.

Addressing the students, Metrospeed’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Emike Ntiokiet, outlined the key features of the lagoon-front development, which she described as a departure from the conventional housing projects that populate Lagos. 

The project, she said, will incorporate multiple entry and exit points to ease traffic and manage emergencies, fibre optics infrastructure, central water systems, high-rise commercial buildings, solar panels for energy conservation, and a rainwater collection system to address water shortages.

Ntiokiet argued that the increasing population of Lagos and the widening housing deficit demanded a higher standard of real estate development.

“The way the industry is going with the housing deficit and more people coming into Lagos State, in the nearest future, it’s not going to be enough to just have a structure. What will stand out are your infrastructures, not just the beautiful houses anymore. So that’s why we are very big on this,” she said.

On the rationale behind the students’ visit, Ntiokiet described capacity building as central to Metrospeed’s corporate philosophy, pledging that the company would sustain and deepen its engagement with engineering institutions.

“Metrospeed is big on capacity building and it is part of the ways to give back to the society, especially to engineering students,” she said, adding that the company is “giving opportunities to young graduates who are eager to get into the system and who can contribute value.”

Dr. Adetona, who organised the trip, expressed concern about a growing disconnect between young engineers and the demands of their profession, saying the visit was aimed at reigniting passion and curiosity among the students.

“Over the years, we’ve discovered that young engineers are not living up to expectations as compared with sustainability of our profession,” she said, stressing the need to show students that civil engineering extends well beyond the lecture hall.

“There is a need to expose them to the environment. They need to see that civil engineering is going far. Studying engineering is not just sit in the class and write on the board — they need to see what the Y and the X they’re learning is turning out to be in the environment,” she added.

At the project site, Engineer Abdulhameed Salahudeen endorsed the initiative, arguing that practical exposure was essential to consolidating theoretical knowledge.

“When you are just learning about theory without seeing the practical, sometimes the knowledge you gain will not stick to your brain the way it would when you are doing it practically on the field,” he said.

He recommended that civil engineering students should visit project sites at least three times per semester to strengthen student understanding of civil engineering.

One of the students, Afolami Omotosho, said the experience had broadened his perspective on what was achievable within Nigeria’s engineering and real estate sectors.

“They (Metrospeed) are quite ambitious to want to embark on such a project. I admire ambitious people because they teach me that things can be done,” he said.

Omotosho described Metrospeed’s smart city project as offering Nigerians access to a standard of living they would otherwise have to travel abroad to experience.

For the management of Metrospeed Group, one of the best ways to preserve their own legacy of real estate excellence is to educate, empower and equip the young engineers who would go on to envision and build Nigeria’s future smart cities.