As part of its resolve to combat food insecurity from all fronts, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has decided to put everything in place towards achieving an all season agricultural practice in the country. The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority, Dr Adedeji Ashiru, has therefore announced the establishment of 84 greenhouses in the Southwest to address food insecurity.
He disclosed this at the 46th Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN) themed “Developing Strategies for Management of Ecological Challenges” in Lagos on Wednesday.
Dr. Ashiru said a contract for the construction of seven dams in Ekiti, Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun and Ondo States is billed to be finalised this month. This, he said, was part of plans to address the challenges of irrigation in the region.
His words: “We are building seven dams in the Southwest, and the contracts should be awarded between now and Friday. These dams are primarily for irrigation purposes, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s agriculture agenda to enable all-year-round farming and boost food production.
“Each location of these dams will have 12 greenhouses and open fields for farming. We will also have storage houses to store the farm produce.”
He mandated consulting engineers to design buildings resilient to flooding and climate change, adding that the Oyan Dam, commissioned in 1979 to generate nine megawatts but operated for only one hour, is now being restructured to maximise its potential.
Speaking further he said, “The bedrock of engineering is design, and the primary responsibility of members of ACEN is to produce designs for engineering works. They should therefore incorporate green technology into their designs to help reduce the impact of global warming and climate change.”
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, through his Special Adviser on Works, Adekunle Olagoke, urged engineers to use advanced technology and best practices to build climate-resilient cities and pledged the government’s support for partnerships with professional bodies like ACEN.
He said to promote sustainable, equitable development, “The government is committed to creating an enabling environment that encourages sustainable development. As consulting engineers, you are the architects of resilience; your expertise will help us navigate and combat the complexities of climate change, urban expansion, and resource management.
“I therefore urge you to continue setting very high standards in ethical practices, quality, and sustainability. Align with government initiatives, engage stakeholders, and adopt international best practices that promote sustainable designs and engineering solutions.”
The President ACEN, Kem-Selem Bukar, assuring of quality structures, said “In the past, the lack of enacted regulations hindered progress, but with the current leadership of Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), we now have more than ten regulations that we can work with for a paradigm shift in engineering regulation”.