Architects seek local content law for construction industry

The Nigerian Institute of Architects has called for the passage of a law that will ensure the implementation of local content in the construction industry.

Speaking at the 2014 quarterly dinner organised by the NIA, Abuja Chapter, the Secretary, National Planning Commission, Mr. Fidelis Ugbo, said the construction industry should aim to replicate the successes achieved in the oil and gas industry with the Nigerian Content Act as implemented by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board.

He said the nations construction industry, which gulps over 80 per cent of the capital budget of all tiers of government annually, had been dominated by expatriate companies since independence.

Ugbo said it was time for operators in the construction industry to correct the impression that local companies were incompetent, mismanage funds and unable to buy equipment required to execute most complex construction and engineering jobs.

According to him, the Federal Government took a step in this direction when the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, announced in 2013 that all engineering and construction projects below N5bn would be handled by Nigerian contractors who possessed requisite capacities.

This was intended to reverse the domination of the Nigerian engineering and construction industry by expatriates. A presidential declaration was made to give jobs to local manufacturers and contractors even if their quotations are 10 to 15 per cent higher than those of expatriates, he said.

Ugbo further explained that the Local Content Bill in the construction industry modelled after the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act was awaiting passage by the National Assembly.

The bill, he said, would boost employment opportunities and promote local trade in building materials as well as ensure that the nations architects, engineers and other professionals in the industry were effectively utilised.

The secretary charged members of the National Assembly to ensure the quick passage of the bill and canvassed that foreign goods be discouraged in the industry through the application of appropriate fiscal measures.

The ministries of Communications Technology and Power had in the past weeks made moves to adopt local content models in their operations.

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Architects seek local content law for construction industry