Abuja – The National Contractors Association, a group of indigenous contractors, has urged the Federal Government to empower indigenous contractors by patronising them.
The group urged the government to identify and engage proficient indigenous contractors in order to enable more Nigerians to demonstrate their expertise.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Onuche Okoh, made the appeal in a statement made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
The statement said that the current economic challenges in the country made it imperative for governments at all levels to urgently empower more qualified Nigerians instead of giving contracts to quacks.
“In view of the current economic crisis facing the nation, there is an urgent need to empower more Nigerians to be able to meet up with their responsibilities.
“Both federal and state governments, as well as their agencies must in earnest begin to identify efficient contractors to execute projects instead of engaging quacks,” it said.
The statement quoted Okoh as saying that government’s change mantra would not be fulfilled if indigenous contractors were jobless while their foreign partners “who know little or nothing smile to the banks”.
However, it urged indigenous contractors to always use quality materials while executing projects to put an end to collapse of buildings in the country.
“We cannot continue to lose our people to the idiosyncrasies of some unqualified contractors who receive large sums of money only to use sub-standard products to execute their jobs.
“This must stop and that is the major reason that the National Contractors Association met to find a way to meet the government on how to find a lasting solution to quackery in the polity,” the statement said.
It commended the Federal Government’s effort at sanitising the country through its anti-corruption war, stressing that the hydra-headed monster was the major impediment to the growth of Nigeria’s economy.
The association also lauded the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, for his efforts at restoring the dignity of the territory. (NAN)