Jonah Advises Engineers To Show Interest In Politics

Former Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah (rtd) has advocated that for the sustainable development of infrastructural projects, engineers should to show more interest in national politics so as to be given lead roles at the level of policy conception.
He also advised that ministries with mainly engineering functions should be headed by engineers just as doctors and lawyers head their establishments.
Speaking recently at the fifth Annual Lecture and first Memorial Lecture of Prof. (Chief) Telimoye M. Oguara, organized by the Nigerian Society of Engineers Yenagoa branch, Jonah said for Nigeria to catch up with fast engineering economies, there is need to deliberately avoid a selective application of professionals to manage critical sectors of our national lives.
Gboribiogha said the present engagement of engineers at both national and state executive levels, appears to be more influenced by political patronage than merit.
While encouraging more engineers to become involved in active politics, he said governments should know that an engineer managing a correctional center and lawyers managing the Works and Housing Ministry is politics gone too far and not in the interest of infrastructural development.
The former deputy governor who, is also a marine engineer, said the federal cabinet has just only five engineers, and not all of them hold engineering related portfolios.
He said only 12 out of 109 senators in the National Assembly are engineers while only four governors are engineers out of 36 state governors with three other governors having related qualifications in engineering such as architecture and quantity surveying.
According to him, proper placing of qualified persons in critical leadership positions will yield better development results for the country.
Said he: “Policy formulation and planning for infrastructural development must be done by professional engineers and the country is not lacking in their supply.
“A simple reversal of these roles would have facilitated improved supervision of our projects, for the sustainable development of the nation’s physical Infrastructure.
“This is the strategic leadership issue that must be addressed to spark economic growth and improvement in the quality of life in the country. There is a clear need to put round pegs in round holes or prepare for the consequences of the choices.
“We must understand clearly that adequate project supervision is central to successful economic execution of physical Infrastructural projects.
“Some portfolios that are better handled by professional engineers are being handled by others as illustrated in two glaring cases, namely the ministries of Transport and Works where pure political patronage at the expense of development appears to have been the determining factor in assigning those portfolios.
“There was even a time in the past when a lawyer was holding three ‘engineering specific ministries’-Works, Housing and Power”. The world is driven by knowledge and Nigeria is not lacking in that, ” the former deputy governor pointed out.
Speaking earlier, chairman of the occasion who is also the national president of Nigerian Society of Engineers, Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari-Wudil, said engineers have distanced themselves from politics for too long ,adding that it has not in any way helped them nor the country.
He said NSE has been financially encouraging members who want to go into politics.
“We support any of our members that want to contest for the office of the president with the sum of N1mllion, while Senate is N500,000 and House of Representatives, N300,000. Unfortunately, only few applied”.
Tasiu encouraged NSE members to invest in politics especially, in any candidate that will make the difference, adding, “we have been encouraging our members to be in politics to enable them advise the politicians”.
In his welcome address, the state chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, James Karimo Sokari, said the non-involvement of engineers by government and on the other hand, engineers not strategically positioning themselves politically, to give a bearing to government policies as it regards the technological development of the society, has been a worrying discourse in the NSE both at the national and branch levels in various states.
He said government, both at the federal and state level including Bayelsa State in recent times, have not been appointing engineers into the executive council to take the lead in advising government on spontaneous technological related decisions that needed to be taken at council meetings.
“Engineers must realize that in the game of politics, you cannot be absolutely passive and expect to be appointed into positions only on the grounds of your informed engineering knowledge. Members must be prepared to also actively participate in politics,” he stressed.
The lecture with the theme: “Engineers In Politics, a Convergence for National Infrastructural Development,” was organized to celebrate. Prof (Chief) Telimoye M. Oguara for his contribution towards engineering development in the country while alive.