The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Mead Facilities and Management Services Limited, AMFacilities, Engr. Femi Akintunde, has tasked young engineers on the need to harness their knowledge of engineering principles, science and mathematics to advance Nigeria’s economy.
MFAMFHe made this charge at the University of Ibadan, where he also endowed an annual N500, 000 cash prize, in honour of his late parents, for the Best Graduating Female Engineering Student and Best Graduating Industrial Engineering Male Student respectively.
Delivering a paper, titled “The Engineer as the Prime Mover of Economic Development”, to the university’s 2014 inductees of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, NSE, Engr. Akintunde hinted that every major sector of the Nigerian economy is in dire need of engineering solutions. He highlighted such sectors as power, manufacturing, infrastructure, real estate, agriculture and transportation, saying that Engineers must rise to the occasion to boost the nation’s economy.
“Today, the world, Nigeria in particular, is in dire need of engineering solutions. This simply means that, if the simple economic rule of demand and supply is anything to go by, then there are limitless opportunities for engineers in the pool of problems that confront our nation.
If you consider Nigeria’s current economic indices and realities, one common denominator of our challenges is that none can be solved outside the scope of engineering principles and practices. These challenges therefore place a huge responsibility on the shoulders of engineering stakeholders; and as you join the league of this noble profession today, it is only ideal that we provoke your thinking to imbibe a solution mentality towards our nation’s economic problems.”
He further advised the young Engineers to keep fate with Nigeria, even in the face of the pool of challenges that confront the nation. “You cannot afford to join the bandwagon of those complaining about Nigeria. The Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan is a document that highlights key areas of the economy that can take our economy through the maturation circle of Vision 2020. You should make such documents a companion,” he charged.
The AMFacilities MD, who is also an alumnus of the faculty, further tasked stakeholders such as government, educational institutions and employers of labour to present the right environment to help the engineering profession thrive.
He charged the government to implement laws that can protect investment and investors, and stem the tide of corruption plummeting the nation’s resources, explaining that such laws will raise the interest of investors, thereby encouraging the required activities that will provide employment for engineers to help the economy grow.
“Our lecturers must also understand that, as the society advances, its challenges also advance, and the only responses that can contain such advancements are new researches. The new breed of engineers has to be equipped with contemporary knowledge to be able to move the economy forward,” he noted.
Femi Akintunde also implored employers to actively invest in measures that will enhance the quality of graduates from Nigerian higher institutions, inviting them to join in the quest to ensure that the required competences are developed.
Also speaking at the event, during his welcome address, Engr. Prof. Emmanuel Ajav, Dean of the Faculty of Technology and representative of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. I.F Adewole, described Engr. Akintunde as an illustrious alumnus of the faculty. He charged the new inductees to emulate the virtues of hard work and focus, “which have made Femi a shining example of an engineer and entrepreneur.”
A total of 249 young engineers were inducted at the ceremony, which is an annual practice of the Faculty of Technology.
Picture: (L-R) Engr. Rauf Salawu, Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ibadan Chapter; Engr. Femi Akintunde, Managing Director/CEO, Alpha Mead Facilities and Management Services Limited; Prof. Emmanuel Ajav, Dean, Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan; Prof. (Emeritus) Olusoji Ofi, an Ex-official of NSE Ibadan; and Engr. Akin Akintola, Representative of the NSE President at the 2014 NSE Induction Ceremony of the Faculty of Technology, UI, held on the University campus.
