Jude Chukwuemeka

Not only do banks refrain from giving out loans so that major construction projects or other
environmental projects could be completed, government also compounds the issue by
withdrawing from encouraging the consulting engineer.

Lagos State is situated in the southern-most end of south western Nigeria. It is 3,577 sq. km. in
size with a maritime shoreline of about 180km, as its southern border. According to a report from
the Nigerian Environmental Society, about 22% of the total landmass of Lagos is made up of a
network of creeks, rivers and lagoons and the state is endowed with 147,877 hectares of
swampland and large areas of water bodies suitable for aquaculture to feed its ever increasing
human population of over 14 million people.

About 80-85% of the industries in Nigeria are located in Lagos State and they all discharge their
effluents into the Lagos Lagoon. Think of what this means for people living around those areas
and what it entails for precious sea life.

No doubt, Lagos lives on water. Yet most of that is polluted. The state is a place of wonderful
opportunity for the Nigerian youth, yet he suffers from ill health due to environmental hazards.
Yet, even the hazards provide opportunities for employment. These opportunities are often too
far away from the horizon of policy makers to be considered.

Known for its strategic geographical location and resource of people, the state that has a large
population is in itself an asset but if not properly harnessed, things may go wrong as indicated by
the constant threat posed on its people.

Some of the problems confronting environmental engineers include solid waste management, air pollution, water
quality, water supply, wastewater treatment, hazardous waste, and public hygiene and all these must be managed so
that the people in our cities can be healthy.

Economically, Lagos is thriving. The geographical location of Lagos State as a coastal state
makes international trade really easy. The state can boast of about 60% of trading activities at the
ports across the country. The government is ready to mitigate the various environmental threats
posed on inhabitants of the state by climate change and other health hazards. Though, to a large
extent, vehicular emissions pose a great amount of threat on humans, climate change, lack of
clean water and sanitation cannot be relegated to the background.

Environmental engineering is a discipline that addresses these concerns by seeking engineered
solutions to ecological problems. These environmental predicaments are over and over again
very complex and require a multi-disciplinary approach. Some of the problems confronting

environmental engineers include solid waste management, air pollution, water quality, water
supply, wastewater treatment, hazardous waste, and public hygiene and all these must be
managed so that the people in our cities can be healthy.

In 2008, when Governor Babatunde Fashola became the number one man in the state, he
commented: “We have an opportunity here and we also have a challenge. The challenge is how
to manage over 9,000 metric tons of waste that are generated everyday, which is larger than what
some countries generate. My predecessor succeeded in initiating the waste to wealth programme,
which is now operational in Ikorodu where they are turning our organic waste into organic
fertilizer.”

“We have an opportunity here and we also have a
challenge. The challenge is how to manage over
9,000 metric tons of waste that are generated
everyday, which is larger than what some countries
generate.” – Governor Babatunde Fashola

Of course, the role of the engineer comes in when waste has to be turned into fertilizer; an added
benefit for agribusiness sector. This is not to say that this is the only solution to waste. There are
many different ways of solving the issues attached to environmental waste.

The governor emphasized the large opportunities available for employment opportunities and the
need for private companies to come together with public enterprises to tackle environmental
problems. Skills are needed and engineers would supply almost all of that.

Among other things like deficit of equipment capacities, the governor stated that his
administration is on the lookout for “technical support to enlarge our capacity to deal with big
issues by leveraging on opportunities that exist now on carbon credit, carbon emissions by
reducing the number of vehicles on the road and waste to wealth programmes. The benefits will
include managing much more efficiently our waste disposal that constitutes a very serious danger
to the society.”

Major projects that has to do with the environment of course must go through a most severe
environmental review process before the engineer can proceed with the projects, and the state
government must do everything possible to ensure a positive outcome to their environmental
review process.

First Step: Advocacy

There has been positive summits in the past regarding managing the challenges associated with
environmental problems. One of such was the 1st International E-Waste Summit in Nigeria,
which was held from 24 th to 25 th February, 2011 at Oriental Hotel, Lekki-Epe Express Road,
Victoria Island, Lagos. The theme of the Summit was REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT
OF E-WASTE IN NIGERIA. This is purported to be the first Summit of its kind in Nigeria and probably in Africa following the International Conference on E-Waste Control held by the
National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in July,
2009 otherwise known as “THE ABUJA PLATFORM ON E-WASTE”.

However, it suffices to say that more advocacies are still needed in this area. If the federal and
state governments could mobilize engineers to gather at summits and conferences four times in
each year, much could have been attained in Nigeria when it comes to engineering successs. The
support that engineers can get in the way of funding and encouragement can make them sacrifice
more, not just for Lagos state, but for Nigeria. More attention should be given to sponsorship and
promotion of ideas postulated by engineers.

It has been noted that most of the time warnings and advice given by engineers are ignored. The
government and even people; notable decision makers often fail to see things in the same angle
that the engineer sees them. Furthermore, there is difference in one person’s opinion as separate
from another. Interests clash and in a situation whereby each person is most concerned about
what he or she thinks should be done, progress is often hampered.

Not only do banks refrain from giving out loans so that major construction projects or other
environmental projects could be completed, government also compounds the issue by
withdrawing from encouraging the consulting engineer.

Second Step: Motivation f

Back in the 70’s, people often told engineers to look for other means of livelihood. They said
that the Nigerian engineer lacked the capacity to manufacture products or solve problems
because they did not have the tools. Things have changed today, but there is still room for aiding
the consulting engineer to be the best he can be for this country Nigeria.

For the engineer, there are great opportunities for employment, which include working in
industry, government, research organizations, and consulting. Environmental engineers have
opportunities for working with computers, conducting laboratory studies, and doing field
sampling, evaluation but all these require adequate funding.

When government and stakeholders realize that there are needs for more environmental
engineers in many segments of society around the world to find practical solutions to
environmental issues, maybe things will start to look up for the consulting engineer and these
engineers in turn would not think much about seeking greener pastures elsewhere other than in
Nigeria.

Engineers are involved in an intense creative process. The engineer operates or designs under
constraints, so to speak. His work includes the design of devices, components, subsystems and
systems. He does all these just to make sure that he creates directly or indirectly to an
improvement in our quality of life.

Technology is the outcome of engineering and the engineer cannot survive without it.
Historically, technological advances, such as the airplane, steam engine, and internal combustion
engine are all the tell-tale signs of improvement in engineering.

Engineers, whether civil or otherwise are individuals who have deep background in education
and experience and they are considered people who "think for a living." Though the phrase
“think for a living” may also apply to doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses, financial analysts and
architects, more important is the role of engineers who penetrate every other sector including the
health sector nowadays, to add value to those sectors. Above all, the engineer speaks through an
international language of mathematics, science, and technology. Without these three, the
engineer is nowhere to be found.

There are no two ways about it, businesses must increase their dependence on information
technology and so should the engineer who is a watchdog for innovation. The number of fields in
which the consulting engineer must operate has expanded dramatically and the provision of IT
tools makes the engineer’s task easier.

The Role of Technology in Modern Times

In the past and at the present time, changes in the engineering profession and engineering
education have followed changes in technology and society. However, the consulting engineer
must forge ahead of others in the acquisition of knowledge in a bid to stay relevant in our
society. Technology changes occur faster than many other changes. But the Nigerian consulting
engineer must stay on top of his game because the normal IT tools, computers or software may
not be available to him. To succeed or successfully compete with his foreign counterpart, the
local engineer must acquire and utilize these tools.

It is paramount that the consulting engineer anticipates needed advances and prepare for a future
where it will provide more benefit to humankind. In like manner, engineering education needs to
evolve to do the same. The challenges engineering students in Nigeria face today must be
eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum to give room for the achievement of tangible
technological growth by the practicing consulting engineer.

Technology has done a lot and is still doing magnificent things for us all today. To it, major
sectors turn in order to stay on top of their games. Technology has among other things enabled
humans to live longer, it is making it easy for us to communicate in ways unimaginable in the
twenty first century. It is creating wealth and economic growth by bringing the virtues of

innovation to the fore and enhancing functionality to the economy by using more sophisticated
approaches to constructing great modern edifices and manufacture products consumed by people
whose wants are seemingly never satiated.

The Nigerian consulting engineer

For the Nigerian consulting engineer, he must be ready to grasp even more remarkable
opportunities that are fast approaching through new developments in nanotechnology, logistics,
biotechnology, and high-performance computing. At the present time, the afore-mentioned areas
need more attention if the Nigerian engineer is to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his foreign
counterpart. As we all see today, new challenges and opportunities are emerging as a
consequence of rapidly improving technological capabilities in such nations as India, China and
Nigeria is in no way left out of these developments, much as we find that foreigners are apt to
further build their careers in Nigeria.

Technological innovations, in-so-far as they occur in a way which not all of us can come to grips
with; these innovations are occurring at a surprising pace, especially those in information and
communications technology, which are mostly apparent to the public and this has important
implications for the engineering practice and engineering education in the future.

The Consulting Engineer and the Future

No doubt, consulting engineers in Nigeria are anticipating how relevant their practice will be in
the future, say, five to ten years from now. The same can be said about engineers in the
developed world. It is difficult for anyone to predict the future and that future, to the practicing
consulting engineer in Nigeria may appear bleak. However, there is hope when local engineers
do not rely completely on the tools, or ideas of their foreign counterparts. In this dispensation,
the local consulting engineer must fashion out a way to keep ‘thinking for himself’ because it
appears that this is one of the few ways he could survive.

It is significant that the consulting engineer devise flexible strategies that are adaptable to
changing conditions. He must be able to comprehend multiple possibilities. This approach to
changes in the future is most beneficial since he does not have to lean on a lonely narrow lane to
solve his challenges.

For one thing, change will continue to be driven by developments in technology. Yet, the
engineer, or the scientist does not in any way belittle the good that current technologies can do,
not only now but also in the future. Technologies that are on the horizon today will hopefully be
developed to a stage where they will be indispensable to the commercial world and optimised to
take care of societies’ needs.

Yet, it will be very unreasonable for us to believe that engineers will always rely on the
technological tools they have now to solve all of tomorrow’s problems. They will continue to
match up with constant change by creating new technologies, especially in the area of
information technology. As our society becomes more and more commercialized, the importance
of technology will be emphasized the more and the new technologies created will be fully
appreciated by all engineers, regardless of what their specialties may be. Of course, there will be
new societal implications for new technologies created. These implications will be anticipated and a way to overcome them may already be in place. However, it is hoped that both the political
and societal implications coupled with the new technologies will hold out a great potential for
the practicing engineer globally, so to speak.

Furthermore, the practicing engineer will want to know more on how to develop better tools in
the future, to predict natural disasters, to speed up recovery from disastrous events, to be able to
predict dangers and minimize their impact.

Engineering and the Health Industry

There is ample reason to believe that the field of industrial and systems engineering has the
potential to make significant contributions in achieving an ideal health care delivery system
through use of tools, techniques and methods that allow for development of various solutions.
Using technological tools, the practicing engineer has in recent times found his way deeper into
the health industry. For the health industry, clinical engineers respond to changes by developing
strong relations with the IT world in hospitals. Clinical engineers make it possible for hospitals
to achieve the maximum levels of efficacy and safety as new technologies are deployed.

What are some of the anticipated benefits? According to a report published by the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, the health care industry can benefit from improvements
adopted by industrial and systems engineering breakthroughs if those processes are applied in a
consistent way. Systems engineering breakthrough techniques have been used in health care to
make improvements on a small scale, such as creating efficient scheduling of patients in a small
practice or decreasing waiting times in a hospital emergency department.

Real tangible benefits are yet to be seen in large-scale widespread use of the technique for
significant advances in the delivery of health care. It is hoped that as the result of better
engineering methods, improvements will occur naturally in more complicated units of the health
industry.

Civil Engineers and the use of IT

Information technology is synonymous with progress. According to Murray Gell-Mann, "We
need to move from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side." In a rapidly moving world, we
now have information technology, and we have the Music Television generation, Generation X,
and what have you?

The role of information technology in educating the engineer to be capable for challenges in
2020 is indispensable. University lecturers and professors must desire to understand and
capitalize on the role of information technology in teaching and learning on residential
campuses. Information technology is a powerful reality, an indispensable, rapidly developing and
empowering tool.

The Internet and computers can empower engineering schools. These are tools that can be used
to send information outward, beyond the campus boundary. These tools can also bring the
external world to the campus.

Information technology is a tool that can also create learning communities across time and
distance. Users of IT can access, display, store, and manipulate profound amounts of
information: text, images, video, and sound. It can provide design tools and sophisticated
simulations that aid miraculously, the performance of an engineer. The Nigerian engineer does
well when he takes advantage of open-source software which are available online to teachers and
learners and to everyone else. This is usually the best way for the engineer who thrives on a tight
budget.

Civil engineers have one of the world's most important jobs: they build our quality of life. Civil
engineers plan, design, construct and operate the facilities essential to modern life, ranging from
bridges and highway systems to water treatment plants and energy-efficient buildings. These
engineers are problem solvers, meeting the challenges of pollution, traffic congestion, drinking
water and energy needs, urban redevelopment and community planning. These endeavors can
meet with more progress with the use of information technology.

In Nigeria, technological revolution aids the rapid engineering growth and as the world's
population increases, as environmental concerns mount, civil engineering skills will be needed
all the more throughout the world. Whatever area the practicing engineer chooses, be it design,
construction, research, planning, teaching or management; civil engineering offers a wide range
of career choices for the human race.

Conclusion

Now is the time to inculcate in the minds of those contemplating the civil engineering field that
they must possess skills in information communication technology and the use of computers and
cherish advanced knowledge in a specific area within the civil engineering platform.

Contemporary engineers will work more in teams, be affected by globalization, new materials
and increased use of computer applications. Robotics and computer skills are also highly
cherished in civil engineering as automation and information technologies continue to evolve in
the civil engineering workplace. Yet, it is only by constantly upgrading his skills and continuing
his education long after bachelor’s degree, will the consulting engineer in Nigeria survive.