Mr Chucks Omeife, a former President of Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), on Wednesday called for collaboration among local and foreign operators in the building construction industry.
He said in Lagos that there was little or no cooperation between foreign and local operators in the industry.
Omeife said that the foreign construction companies had failed to obey the building/construction codes and conducts that should regulate their operations in the country.
According to him, building laws and codes state that “any foreign construction company coming into the country must be identified with a local company with which it can collaborate to operate.’’
He said that the law also stated that local construction companies should be the major executor of a project to outline the modalities for executing such project, while the foreign companies would follow suit.
“This implies that no foreign construction company can come into the country to operate wholly on its own.
“It must collaborate with a local company who is supposed to be the pioneer of any project the foreign company wants to execute.
“This is because the local operators know and understand the environment, the citizens and their needs better than the strangers.
“Unfortunately, governments, organisations and private individuals feel that the foreign contractors are more capable than the local ones and continue to award contracts to them,’’ he said.
Omeife said that Nigeria had capable professionals in the industry that could perform better than foreigners, adding that local professionals only needed financial empowerment for service delivery.
“What makes foreign operators and contractors seem to be better is because they have the financial capacity to secure all the expensive machinery that facilitate construction works.
“If local operators can be empowered and the enabling environment provided, it will boost their performance,’’ he said.
Omeife, however, said that there were many quacks parading themselves as professionals.
He urged government and citizens to always ensure they engaged certified local professionals in all their building and construction works.
