By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has reaffirmed the commitment of the Ministry to supporting the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN,) in order to effectively fulfill its statutory functions.
The Minister made this known, yesterday when the members of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), paid him a courtesy visit at the Ministry’s Headquarters, in Abuja.
He acknowledged the role of the QSRBN in the collective efforts to reposition Nigeria’s housing and construction sector for greater efficiency, accountability, and professional excellence, saying that the quantity surveying profession was essential to ensuring cost transparency, value for money, and fiscal discipline in the execution of construction projects.
“At a time when we are pushing aggressively to deliver on the Renewed Hope Housing Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, your expertise in cost control, contract administration, and procurement auditing is more critical than ever”, he explained.
While commending the Board for its professionalism, Dangiwa urged them to take their regulatory oversight role seriously by ensuring proper training and licensing of professionals to practice ethically, stating that it was a sure way of safeguarding the integrity of the profession and supporting the government’s agenda of eliminating waste, corruption, and substandard practices in the built environment.
The Minister emphasized on the role of the QSRBN in contributing to the sector’s development and providing procurement standards, cost estimating methodologies, and benchmarking practices that align with international best practices.
“We will also count on your support in strengthening quality assurance and control on our project sites nationwide, particularly under the Renewed Hope Housing Programme, the National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrade Programme, and the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs we are working to establish across the six geopolitical zones”, he added.
Arc. Dangiwa further encouraged the Board to work closely with the ministry to deepen collaboration, transparency and accountability in housing delivery.
On concerns raised by the President of the QSRBN, the Minister gave the assurance that the issues around funding for the Board as well as recovering their hijacked plots of land would be checked and resolved.
Accordingly, on the issue of establishing a Building and Engineering Construction Commission under the oversight of the Ministry.
The Minister promised that it would be looked into. Speaking earlier, the President of the Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRBN), QS. Obafemi Onashile, brought the Minister up to speed with the achievements of the Board since it’s inauguration by the Minister, such as registration of qualified quantity surveyors, organizing of 2024 annual assembly for registered Quantity Surveyors, speedy accreditation of Quantity Surveyor programs in Universities and Polytechnics, among others.
He appealed for the Minister’s intervention on some challenges facing the board which includes funding, possession of the Board’s allocated plots of land, lack of coordination and cohesion in the construction industry, awaiting of the Minister’s signature for the update of the regulation of the QSRBN, and more.
- Onashile further gave some recommendations for the construction sector such as; the establishment of a Building and Engineering Construction Commission under the Housing Ministry for effective regulation of the industry, the need for stricter controls over buildings and structures higher than nine meters.
Meanwhile , the President of the Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), QS. Nzekwe Kene Christopher, presented some reform recommendations that would enhance the Nigerian construction industry.
The recommendations include enacting a robust legal framework for construction contracts and robust implementation, establishing specialized construction courts, reviewing of the Federal Housing Authority law for affordable housing, and creating a Construction Industry Development Board, among others.
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