By Chris Ochayi

…decries high cost of construction in Nigeria
The Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria, QSRBN, weekend, blamed  the current high cost of construction projects on the exclusion of quantity surveyors from performing their cost functions. The construction cost experts claimed that such projects have become instruments for money laundering and corruption.

President of QSRBN, Mallam Husaini Adamu Dikko who stated this at the maiden stakeholders’ conference in Abuja, called for patriotic action to block money leakages in the construction industry which according to him, had put construction costs in Nigeria highest above what is obtainable  anywhere in the world.

He specifically noted that billions, if not trillions of Naira will be saved if the board is encouraged to develop and deploy capacity towards mandatory involvement in cost determination of government-owned buildings and other construction projects.

Dikko who described the industry as a potent economic driver that can be used to create wealth, generate employment and boost the economy, lamented that the country ranks high under category of imperfect project cost with high correlation for corruption and deliberate act of falsification.

The QSRBN boss maintained that there is need for the public to be sensitized on the invaluable role quantity surveyors play and urged stakeholders involved in the management of construction processes to ensure that quality control is not comprised.