Abuja: A former President of Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Malam Murtala Aliyu, has blamed the rising cases of abandoned projects in the country on gross under-utilisation of Quantity Surveyors. In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, Aliyu described quantity surveyors as experts in cost management.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Aliyu, who is the Secretary-General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), put the figure of the quantity surveyor currently available in the country at 10,000, saying that this was grossly inadequate. He emphasized that when the functions of quantity surveyors are properly understood, their presence will be required at all levels where value for money is needed.
Aliyu noted that each of the 774 local government areas and all the 36 states in the country, along with ministries implementing capital projects, required the services of quantity surveyors. He pointed out that universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and construction companies all require quantity surveyors in their relevant departments.
He further stated, “If you look at the situation in the country, I think we (quantity surveyors) are still very few and we need to build up the numbers. But because of the approach and the economy, you may still have some quantity surveyors that are either unemployed or under-unemployed, because people are still not going through the process.”
Aliyu stressed that engaging appropriate professionals would prevent the occurrence of trillions of Naira in uncompleted projects across the country. He highlighted the shocking value of money tied down in uncompleted projects due to the under-utilisation of professionals who can plan and execute projects within approximate cost and time frames.