Gabriel Enenche —

A Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Ilorin, Abdullahi Alao Jimoh at the University of Ilorin’s 220th Inaugural Lecture titled, “Exploring Local Materials for Building Development”, called for synergy among universities, construction industry, government agencies, and the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) to control the circulating of fake building materials in the country.

Jimoh advocated for Nigerians to embrace the use of local materials in construction, adding that the use of them over the imported could save up to 26 percent of project cost.

He further stated the use of local materials would make housing affordable, and capable of curbing dependency, slavery to foreign economy and reduction in devaluation of the local currency.

He said Africa generally and Nigeria in particular, were endowed with abundant natural resources but regrettably depend on imported materials for construction.

He described the topic of the lecture as apt, considering Nigeria’s current economic woes, adding that building materials constitute an integral component in building construction, which he said accounts for 70 percent of construction cost.

According to the professor, he has in his personal capacity, contributed to the development of society and students.