Nigerian Architects Say Professionalism And Ethics Key To Solving Housing Deficit And Infrastructure Challenges
The Nigerian Institute of Architects, NIA, has said that Nigeria’s challenges in housing, infrastructure, urbanisation and climate resilience cannot be solved by technical skills alone but by professional knowledge and ethics that influence government policy.
The President of NIA, Mr. Sani Saulawa, said this in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Thursday during the 7th Distinguished Lecture Series, DLS 7.0, organised by the Kwara State chapter of the institute.
The lecture was titled Professional Bodies and National Growth and Development – Perspectives and Reflections of an Architect and was delivered by a former president of NIA, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh Faworaja.
Saulawa said professional bodies must ask themselves whether they are just regulating membership and protecting boundaries or actively contributing to national progress.
He said professional bodies must be present where policies are conceived, investments structured and development priorities determined.
According to him, the future relevance of architects will depend not only on their ability to design but on how architectural knowledge creates economic, social, environmental and institutional value for the country.
The Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Musa Sada, said Nigeria faces serious challenges in housing, infrastructure, urbanisation, sustainability, climate resilience and construction quality.
He said these problems require collective intelligence of professionals, government, academia and industry.
He added that architecture is not a luxury but an essential instrument of human development, social well-being, economic productivity and national identity.
He said the Distinguished Lecture Series has provided a vital platform for eminent architects to interrogate challenges facing the profession, the built environment and the nation.
In his lecture, former NIA president Faworaja said at 66 years of independence, Nigeria faces a defining paradox of economic growth without human development.
He said Nigeria’s housing deficit stands at 22 million units, while health, education and infrastructure remain in crisis.
Faworaja said the missing link in Nigeria’s development is the institutional role of professional bodies.
He noted that globally, nations that developed put bodies like RIBA in the UK, AIA in America, JIA and SIA at the centre of policy. He said they set standards, regulate practice, advise government and enforce ethics.
He said where professional bodies are weak, the cost is seen in collapsed buildings, financial crimes, brain drain and lost lives.
He said in Nigeria, bodies like NIA, NSE, MDCN, NBA, ICAN and APBN have delivered landmark contributions, but their impact is limited by government neglect, political interference, quackery and weak internal governance.
He called on government to recognise professional bodies as legal partners in policy, while professional bodies must reform internally and speak with one voice through APBN.
He said countries do not develop because they have money, but because they have institutions that convert money into results.
The Kwara State Deputy Governor, Mr. Kayode Alabi, who was present at the event, said professional bodies are pillars of national development as they provide standards, expertise, ethical guidance and informed contributions to public policy.
He said the work of architects is directly reflected in the physical environment where people live and work.
Alabi said Kwara State is witnessing infrastructural and urban transformation and the contribution of architects and other built-environment professionals has never been more critical.
He said government must deepen collaboration with professional institutions and that professional bodies must remain active partners in development by offering ideas, expertise and constructive engagement in governance.
