Nigeria Content Online

Mohammed
Abubarkar, the Minister of Science and Technology, on Monday in Abuja
said that a good foundation in welding education can help our nation to
attain top industrial status.

Mr Abubarkar, who
made the disclosure at the opening of the first ECOWAS Welding
Conference holding in Abuja, noted that “no nation attains top
industrial status without a good foundation in welding”.

“I call on the
Nigerian Institute of Welding to work with the Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria, fabrication yards and institutions of higher
earning, foundries and other associated industries to help lay a good
foundation for welding education in the country,” he said.

He noted that with
a good foundation, Nigeria could move from being an
industrially-dependant nation to a technology exporting nation.

He added that the
dream would be attainable “if we could all work together to actualise
it now” and that his ministry would work with the Federal Ministry of
Education, the National Board for Technical Education and the National
Universities Commission to establish departments of Welding Engineering
in tertiary institutions in the country.

He called on Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunity and move into reverse engineering and adaptive technology.

The Minister was
represented by Olusegun Adewoye, Director General of the National
Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).

Solomon Iyobosa,
President of the Nigerian Institute of Welding, in his speech, said the
aim of the conference was to uniformly standardise welding activities
in West Africa.

He said, with the
standard, “we can harmonise our practice in West Africa, create a
regulatory system in the sub-region that would ensure compliance to
standards and also promote one industrial standard”.

Mr Iyobosa said the institute would soon commence ensuring high
quality and safe products of welding, as well as implementing codes
that would enhance clients’ satisfaction by meeting their requirements.