Nigeria loses N900bn annually to foreign engineers

As dearth of indigenous engineering technicians and craftsmen conyinue to pose challenge to Nigeria, the Federal Government has disclosed that estimated N900 billion is being lost annually to foreign engineering services.

The President of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Mr Ali Rabiu in his address at the opening of the 29th Engineering Assembly, in Abuja, lamented that dearth of indigenous engineering technicians and craftsmen in the country remained a major economic setback as the widening skills gap continues to trigger a huge capital flight with payment to expatriates to fill the lacuna at the detriment of the country. “It was estimated that the country loses over N900 billion to foreign engineering technicians and craftsmen as the local built environment fails to generate the required manpower” he said. According to him, more than 80 per cent of masons, carpenters, steel fabricators, plumbers, electricians, painters and tilers on construction sites are foreigners from neighboring countries of Cameroon, Niger, Togo and Ghana. Rabiu submitted that some people go as far as China to employ engineering technicians and craftsmen.