Samuel Bello, Abuja

The Federal Government has reaffirmed the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to embark on the necessary research and innovation needed to build high quality and less expensive roads and houses in the country.

Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, stated this in Abuja at 2018 NBRII International Conference, with the theme, “Sustainable Development Goals and the Nigerian Construction Industry-Challenges and the way forward.”

According to Onu, the task can be achieved through intensifying research on the use of locally available materials for the construction of both roads and houses in the country.

He further stressed the need for all state governments to ensure sustainable training of artisans and craftsmen for the construction industry as the country still depends on other countries for supplies.

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The minister said: “This has become so important for our country, because in the midst of high levels of unemployment, we still rely on other countries, including our neighboring countries to supply us with the artisans and craftsmen we need for our construction industry.

In his address, Director-General of Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRII), Danladi Matawal, said the climate change challenge can also be responded to with a more holistic approach to built environment issues by all stakeholders with emphasis on planning, landscape, architecture, conservation and engineering.

He said policies toward a sustainable built environment where individuals can live well and contribute positively in developing a sustainable social-economic society should be a priority for policy.

“Nigeria needs to key in to the rest of the world to improvise innovative simple, cheap and user friendly solutions for the nation’s built environment to harness benchmarks of the United Nation SDGs to develop a sustainable built environment satisfying the need of the present without destroying the potentials of the future.”