By Emmanuel Elebeke

The Newly elected President and  Chairman in-Council of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engr. Ademola Olorunfemi has described technology as the fastest way to create wealth, saying it remains the shortest route through which Nigeria would create wealth and attain greatness.
Olorunfemi stated this during his inauguration as the 29th President of the society in Abuja.

He said technology has become so indispensable that it has become next to the gift of life, considering the way it has brought relief to every human activity.
He said it was not surprising that both developed and developing economies embrace engineering and technology as the basis of their progress.

According to him, South Korea, as a matter of deliberate policy developed her engineering capacity in key cutting edge areas including semiconductor electronics, telecommunications engineering, computer hardware and software engineering, as well as genetic engineering. This policy, consequently transformed her from the rubbles of destruction of the Korean war in the 50s to become a world knowledge and innovation power, with her per capital income rising from a mere $67 in 1953 to $430,000 today.

He argued that for Nigeria’s quest for economic emancipation to come to fruition, it must follow the logical pathway, which is technological emancipation.
He added that the only basis for the society to offer its renewed and active partnership with the Nigerian government and people is that Nigeria must first seek engineering conquest, in order to gain technological emancipation, upon which economic prosperity shall be made manifest.

He outlined the most critical contributions that engineering can make to the realization of Nigeria’s vision as: instigating and nurturing the technological work force, knowledge and innovation to facilitate the technical change needed to transform the economy and make it globally competitive; contributing the technical   and vocational work force to operate, service and maintain the equipment and facilities for industrial production and provision of services for the populace and developing, managing and sustaining the physical and technical infrastructure that will be the supporting super structure for the country’s competitive development.