FG, Engineers Forum collaborate on road sector reform bill

By Miriam Humbe

The Minister of State for Works, Prince Adedayo Adeyeye has assured of the readiness of Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers forum to assist the federal government in implementing the road sector reform bill; eliminate the existence of quacks and unqualified personnel in the execution and supervision of road contracts.

The ministry is vigorously pursuing the reform of the road sector in conformity with world class standards in order to fully provide better services to road users in line with international best practice. The minister said this during the conference/annual general meeting of the Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers, (NIHE) in Abuja yesterday.

“Once the Reform Bill is passed into law, it will lead to the establishment of a Road Fund which will help to ensure better funding of road projects in the country”, he said.

Prince Adeyeye urged NIHE to work with Nigerian Universities to ensure that upcoming engineers undergo academic programmes in the field of highway engineering.

“I wish to assure you that the Federal Ministry of Works will grant all required encouragement and assistance to NIHE, where necessary while NIHE and the ministry will partner in the areas of training of engineers, capacity building and sharing of knowledge to enhance best practices within the industry”, he said. In his remarks, Permanent Secretary, Dr. Abubakar Muhammad, charged the NIHE to mobilise all professional highway engineers who are active, retired or in the Diaspora to form a resource base for the industry.

Dr. Muhammad assured of the ministry’s readiness to partner with NIHE in the areas of local training programmes for highway engineers, capacity building to enhance best practices, design consultancy and supervision of highway projects and national trunk studies.