Distinguished Fellows of the prestigious Nigerian Academy of Engineering, the President, Engr. Alex Ogedegbe, Executives, Dignitaries & Guests.
It gives me great pleasure to be here today as an inductee & I am highly honoured to have been assigned to deliver the closing remarks at this impressive gathering.
I would like to share some thoughts on what the most prestigious
Engineering body in Nigeria can do to make a difference in our society.
Please allow me share some shocking statistics. With Nigeria being a mono economy reliant on Petroleum, Brent hovering at $109- 118/barrel, exchange rate at 612 Naira to a dollar yesterday, FDI dropped by $6.7billion in 2021, GDP growth is at 3.11%, inflation rate is at 17.71% & food inflation at 19.5% in May, there is a looming shortage of petroleum products, we are plagued with Power & Energy issues yet we are in the decade of gas in one of the most prolific gas provinces in the world. Furthermore, we are going into an election year and have experienced several national grid collapses in 2022 so there is a lot more Engineering to be done by Engineers.
As Engineers, we owe Nigerians, data driven envisioning, SMART goal setting, strategy, planning & execution. The importance of data gat2hering, R&D as well as bridging the gap between industry & academia is critical to our individual, collective & national survival.
How can we make a difference, touch more lives, impact society & make Nigeria a destination country?
I read a book titled " Rashid's Legacy" the autobiography of the grandfather of Dubai - Sheik Rashid Markthoum in 2003 & it indeed brought clarity to the reason why I divinely found myself in NETCO in 1992 curtesy of my mentor Engr. Dr. Mrs. Olatokunbo Somolu & Engr. Sola Alabi who helped me navigate the cultural change I needed upon returning from England. NETCO is the National Engineering & Technical Company - Established in 1989 as a JV between NNPC & Bechtel Inc through the strategic thinking of Engineers which includes Engr. Ihetu. In 1992, I was fortunate to have been engaged on 6-month contract to train Engineers in the use of Computer Aided Design & Draughting Systems for the Chevron Escravos Gas Project Phase I. This assignment ended up lasting for 10 years and 10 months until I decided to run Lonadek as independent firm rather than a NETCO "in-house" consulting company. We must give credit to the Fathers of NETCO who envisioned a special purpose vehicle that delivered on it's promise of technology transfer as well as the Domiciliation, domestication & democratization of Engineering Projects & expertise.
Some persons must think tank & conceptualise data driven solutions & strategy, then plan & execute. Success is determined by data-based envisioning, team work strategy, planning & execution.
Envisioning is key to determine what a low hanging fruit after we categorise activities into short, medium & long-term term SMART goals based on data.
Success for the NAE will thus be determined by the what, why, which, where, when, how, how much we decide to tackle as a united team. NAE needs to act as a catalyst of transformation through cooperation, collaboration & coordination of resources with external stakeholders. From the perspective of national development & socio-economic Transformation we have an opportunity to do things differently as an Academy that is united across geography, tribes, language & faith.
I have selected Engineering Education as my focus simply because a few things need to change as we learn from our children & grandchildren who are the millennials & Gen-Z network.
1. Time bound Projects, Initiatives & Activities is critical to delivering the transformation our nation desperately needs.
2. Unfortunately, post colonial era the African & Nigerian educational system metamorphosed in to a top attractive & base undermined system. The Vocational & technologists we need are scarce. Everyone wants to be white collared thus leaving talent at the base bewildered as misfits through systemic division rather than a cohesive & united team. For a country with huge mineral and natural resources we need a system where the white collar respects the contribution of blue to achieve the best outcomes. The white-collar compensation is only sustainable if the base can carry the top. We need to turn our human capital pyramid back on its base.
We have the brightest minds in Africa whereas the best are working at cross purposes & going at conflicting tangents. ASUU strike plagues our best brains & I am sure that over 50% of us in this room educated our children abroad & they are yet to return to the near shambles that exists on our very own watch. Nigerians delivering value in other nations should be mobilized as a diaspora community in our transformation journey.
5. We celebrate and have celebrated individual Nigerian achievements over the years but we are yet to replicate huge wins in the celebration of quantum leaps due to a lack of collective synergy.
What can we do differently.
1. To foster cohesion, we need to celebrate team rather than individuals.
2. We can disrupt through multi-disciplinary pupillage programmes. Academy fellows should volunteer, mentor, coach, supervise, empower, enlighten & entrepreneur other Engineers. Our graduate training schemes requires a better strategy.
3. We must encourage a broad field and design office experience on which to base the innovation that Information Technology affords you.
4. We need to widen the funnel, attract quality engineers into Engineering rather than Finance. For any nation to move forward, they need to attract the best brains - knowledge, skills & good practice is what makes the difference. We need the best brains to service the engineering sector.
5. We need to Design, develop & execute CPD programmes running from Higher learning institutions right through industry. Experienced Engineers through the Academy should be encouraged to get engaged in what the universities are doing most especially research & Development.
5. Having an annual Prize that promote Entrepreneurship while bringing the gap between industry and academia is key.
With $4.4 trillion planned towards the attainment of SDGs by 2030, we can all get engaged, leave our footprints in the sands of time by leveraging Technology, bringing our potentials, talent & passion to bear as we focus on improving society through SDG-focusses projects, initiatives & assignments that alleviates poverty & creates jobs.
Engineering must be all about teamwork & solving problems.
It must be inter & multi-disciplinary. There must be more cohesion, realignment, optimisation of resources to deliver quality products & services.
We can learn a lot from the oil industry & the power of the PFD/the strategy template.
At NETCO, I learned that it is from this schematic that P&IDs, Isometrics, GAs, the plot plan & facility evolves from. If you make a mistake in your PFD then it is near impossible that you arrive at any reasonable destination. Strategy, planning & execution is key to success. Engineers are best positioned to Project Manage Nigeria from failure to success with the right strategy.
Also, the PFD teaches & humbles us to understand that we may be just one valve, line, equipment, instrumentation, support or compressor in the big picture of a plant. We can never be the plant itself & a part can never be greater than the whole. A tree does not make a forest. We are here because we exist, which means we are a part of many parts. Families, communities, organizations, societies, associations & Nigeria. It is only in our coming together to do things differently that we can bequeath the next generation a better Nigeria.
I would like us to reconsider what could be done differently to change the chaotic situation that we find ourselves in our dear country Nigeria. As my fellow Inductees & I sign up to the Challenge of making a positive contribution to the academy & impactful difference in Nigeria through the academy, I look forward to a future that is tied to projects, initiatives and assignments that would build a better Nigeria. I am hoping that inductees would be teamed up annually on such to deliver national development & socio-economic transformation.
As I close, I would like to say a big thank you to all who God has used in my journey of life. I say thank you to my my friends & family, cheering NETCO colleagues & ambassadors, my team at Lonadek Global Services, female Engineers from APWEN, colleagues from NSE, Women in Energy Network, my fellow inductees. I am grateful for your love, encouragement & support.
Finally, I would like to recognise my husband, Isaac Olugbade Amao & 3 lovely children, who has given me the freedom to be passionate about what I am wired for. Last but the least I thank my late Father, Oba Engr. Adebayo Idowu Onadeko who spared no cost to give me the best education possible.
In concluding, I would like to thank you all for your patience & kind attention. May God bless us all & use us as Engineers to restore the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Amen.
