The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors NIQS, has tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately pursue a fast double digit growth of the nation’s economy. President Muhammadu Buhari The President, NIQS, Obafemi Onashile, who stated this at a two-day workshop organized by the institute in Abuja, said this could be achieved through the implementation of bold and creative ideas to run the nation.
Onashile also outlined an agenda for the Next Level government, led by Buhari on how the administration can attain a booming economy in the built industry. According to NIQS boss, “The present administration should create new leadership initiatives for a fast double digit growth of the national economy. This will be in the form of implementation of bold and creative ideas to run the nation”. The theme of the workshop was “Project monitoring and reporting services for financial institutions/3rd party funded or sponsored project developments.” Onashile said, “The first 100 days of any new administration is very crucial as activities undertaken within this period are a true barometer of the style, the direction, the capacity and the depth of accomplishment that such administration will achieve in its entire days in office. “It is essential that right at the onset, a new government must set and reveal a cohesive agenda in terms of policies and business plans that must impact positively on its citizens. The construction industry is a very important and strategic sector of the national economy that the government should focus on and exploit in order to make a meaningful impact in the administration of the nation. Capital market can provide funds to bridge N3 trn infrastructure gap — United Capital MD(Opens in a new browser tab) “The construction industry is the second industry, after Agriculture,with potentials for the greatest impact on the national economy of any nation. In nations, the construction industry plays a very pivotal role in infrastructure delivery, massive employment of especially the youths, domestic manufacturing through many cottage industries producing glass, ceramics, Iron billets and rods, aluminum sheets and profiles, paints, plywood and timber profiles that can be consumed locally and even exported to other neighbouring countries to earn foreign exchange. “With a booming construction industry, other construction resources such as construction plants and vehicles will become locally assembled, made and thereby oiling the national economy for exponential performance”. NIQS president insisted that the importance of having a booming construction industry can not be over-emphasized, adding, “This is why on behalf of the construction industry and as a part of the private sector drivers, NIQS wishes to contribute our humble inputs into the crafting of a new direction and administrative policies that can assure a double digit growth for our national economy”, Onashile stated. He said the step is aimed at transforming Nigeria back to being a “developing country” rather than being an “under-developed” country in the comity of nations. “A good start to stir the construction industry for a fast paced growth would be an immediate action to implement Social Housing Programme to provide housing for the vulnerable civil service employees, including the men and women in uniformed services. “Apart from acting as a responsive employer looking after the well-being of its employees, this recommended action will also help curb corruption tendencies in government. A combination of different ways both through fiscal and monetary policies (but more of fiscal policies) can be utilized to accomplish this. “Taken together with the implementation of social housing should be the issue of urbanization . Brand new cities as well as regeneration of some existing and mature cities must be immediately planned and implemented by the federal government to consciously direct the course of growth of the environment and the standard of living of the citizens. Buhari condemns killing of 37 villagers by cattle rustlers(Opens in a new browser tab) “To this end, such organizations like the Federal Housing Authority , FHA, must be re-vitalized and re-oriented to have private sector driven leadership rather than typical civil service leadership outlook. Actions to improve on transportation should be another priority. A combined rail and road infrastructure development focus is vital for long term sustainable development. “The recently passed Executive Order No. 7 should be actively implemented after being fine tuned to avoid the exploitation of loopholes that the NIQS has previously identified. Also, to enhance transport infrastructure development, there is the need to strengthen the PPP schemes by fine-tuning the Laws (i.e the Act) to remove the loopholes that the private sector has been exploiting and frustrating the policy. “The PPP market needs to be further developed, re-orientated and expanded to attract a greater number and serious minded investors both foreign and domestic. There is therefore the urgent need to overhaul the ICRC and make it more private sector-like driven i.e more commercial-like transaction driven rather than being tepidly driven. “Lastly, and without being a sooth-sayer, it will surely help the growth of our national economy, if the construction industry (i.e Housing and Environmental Infrastructure) is un-bundled from the energy industry”, Onashile advised.
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