17/08/2023
Who is an Engineer?
There was this welder on our street, every time Accountant Abeh Terzungwe Samson was passing he would hail him "Engineer!". One day like that, Accountant Terzungwe Abeh and I were going to a barber shop. As usual, he addressed the welder as ENGINEER as we walked pass his workshop. I did not complain still.
When we got to the barber shop, I addressed the girl who was collecting money as ACCOUNTANT. My friend quickly corrected me that the girl is a CASHIER and not an ACCOUNTANT. I said "Orne calm down. I didn't complain you addressed the welder as ENGINEER, so allow me to address this girl as ACCOUNTANT in peace"...
Engineering is arguably the most misunderstood profession in Nigeria. Even those who are well schooled, their education has failed to inoculate them against misunderstanding the engineering profession.
Some years back, I was working on a construction project in Rivers State. We had one Oyibo Engineer from Belgium. We were chatting one day and this man asked me what engineers do in Nigeria. He was hired as an Engineer all the way from Belgium, but when he got here he was not being used as an engineer. So he was confused and needed a me to explain to him the role of an engineer in Nigeria. This is how bad it is.
Nigerians only appreciate the work of people who use tools or operate equipment. They have no regard for brain work. That is why the saying that Nigerian engineers do not know "practical" is very popular in Nigeria.
Somehow Nigerians have acquired the unfortunate belief that anybody who is not seeing operating an equipment, or using one tool (say spanner, trowel, hammer, etc) or the other to perform a task does not know "practical". That is why they say Nigerian engineers only know "theory" without practical.
Come to think of it. I design, say a building, sitting in my office or house. After completing the rigorous design process - during which I even forgot to eat and probably slept late - I produce construction drawings. These drawings serve to instruct the construction process. Yet you say I don't know "practicals" simply because you did not see me wearing an overall dress with boot and a helmet on my head placing concrete, or cutting and bending steel rods, etc.
I use my knowledge of science and maths to generate hydrological data and create a suitable drainage system for Makurdi to halt the incessant flooding of homes. My blue print is used to construct drainage channels and other hydraulic structures to collect, direct and discharge water appropriately. But because you did not see me pouring concrete, you say I do not know "practicals".
I conduct research and find that a locally available material can be used to construct roads at a cheaper cost. My technique is used to construct the road leading to your village. But because you did not see me operating any of the road construction equipment, you say I don't know "practicals".
Dear Nigerians, what is "Practicals"?
But when a doctor sees a patient, prescribes drugs and a nurse administers the drugs on the patient based on the doctor's prescription, nobody accuses the Nigerian doctor of not knowing "practicals" and the nurse is not recognized as doctor. But that is exactly what they do to engineers.
When they are teaching kids about professional careers, they do not show a doctor as someone driving a needle into the butt of a patient. But they show children a picture of a man wearing an overall with a helmet on his head, holding spanners or some other tools and tell them that's an engineer. The kids are asked to repeat so that it will sink. What nonsense!
The job of an engineer in Nigeria is so much taken for granted. But this should be expected in a country where knowledge is not respected and people rely on emotions to speak and take decisions.
I was explaining something to someone who had problem with the outcome of a job I directed. He refused to listen to me saying that he did not study engineering but he as sponsored several construction projects and so he knows something, at least enough to disregard my information that was based on sound scientific principles. I thought he was being stupid but the people around were clapping for him. Yes, because he heads one organization and has access to funds he could dish out to buy drinks for people and also give handouts whenever he came around, the people thought he was making sense and believed him.
But nobody tells a medical doctor to shut up and listen to him because he has acquired some medical knowledge from his regular visits to hospitals.
You have not read a book on a subject but you think you know better than those who have.
But when 'gbege' happens, say building collapse, that is when everybody remembers that a bricklayer is not an engineer.
The other time I did a design for a body. I produced the working drawings and BOQ. They needed the BOQ to source for funds. But when they started the construction, they felt they did not need me, neither did they bother to consult my working drawings. They hired artisans to do the job. As they were about to complete the roof, the building started to collapse. That was when they remembered me. They had concluded among themselves to pull down everything and start a fresh, but decided to hear from us - engineers - first. We came and showed them another way of solving the problem without pulling down anything. I, however, reminded them that the problem would not have occurred if they followed the working drawings I gave them.
That is what engineers do. We create cost-effective solutions to problems. The job of an engineer has nothing to do with brawn, it has everything to with brain. That is why you need to be well verse in science and maths before you can be engineer. Engineering is brain work. If you see someone applying physical strength to do a task using a tool or equipment, such one is either an artisan, an operator or a technician.
