Politics
THE Federal Government is to partner with stakeholders and relevant professional bodies in engineering, for the integrity testing of major bridges and buildings across the country.
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, said this during the facility visit to the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) on Wednesday in Abuja.
He, however, urged NBRRI not to rest on its oars but strive more towards addressing other critical issues,begging for solutions in the road and building sectors of the Nigerian economy.
” One such challenge is addressing the growing menace of building and bridge collapse across the country.
” The collapse of buildings and bridges is not merely a matter of structural failure; it is a grave social, economic, and safety concern that demands our immediate and unwavering attention,” Nnaji said.
He said the ministry was aware of NBRRI’s challenges regarding the Institute’s Mandate, recruiting highly skilled research officers to drive the Institute, and low funding.
Nnaji said,” Regarding the Institute’s mandate, I am pleased to use my good office and every other means available to me to push for Mr President’s assent to the NBRRI Bill to enable its full use.
The minister said the ministry would take it up with relevant authorities to improve available funding levels, especially low overhead, and the expenses of the zonal offices in all the geopolitical zones.
He, however, commended the management of the Institute for their efforts toward repositioning it and making it a global research centre.
Earlier, The Director General of NBBRI, Prof. Samson Duna, said the institute sought the intervention to acquire Institutional land at the FCT to be used as NBBRI technology village for display and utilization of various research and development outputs.
He said efforts were made to acquire a land by the former FCT Minister but the institute did not get the land, saying the land would help in showcasing the institute’s research findings.
Duna also called for partnership with relevant stakeholders in terms commercialising the research and development outputs.
“Some of the research and development outputs by the institute are NBBRI Dismountable House (NDH), Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB), pozzolana which is an alternative to cement and Bamboo as reinforcement.
” Others include rubberised asphalt for road maintenence, natural bitumen mix design specification development for road construction fancy facing tiles, paving stones making machines and testing laboratories and equipment,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NBRRI is a parastatals under the ministry set up in 1978.
It was set up to build capacity, conduct applied integrated research and development development into the various aspects of roads, buildings and engineering materials of the Nigerian economy. (NAN)
T
October 18, 2023 @ 17:39 GMT|
Tags: Uche Nnaji
