The Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE) on Saturday swore in Engr. Wole Ayanrinde as its 9th Chairman in Ibadan.
Speaking at the inauguration in Ibadan, the Rector, The Polytechnic Ibadan who was the Inauguration keynote speaker, Prof. Kazeem Adebiyi, said that promoting local content not only drives economic growth and job creation but also enhances skills development leading to sustainable development outcomes for Nigeria.
The Inauguration had the theme “Local Content, SMEs, and Mechanical Engineering: Panacea for Consumption Inflation and Foreign Exchange Pressure in Nigeria’s Economy”.
Adebiyi who was represented by NIMechE Chairman, Ogbomoso Chapter, Engr.Lateef Mudasiru, said growth of local content, the encouragement of SMES, and the innovation of mechanical engineering are essential to solving inflationary consumption and pressure on foreign money.
“Nigeria may achieve sustainable economic growth and lessen its reliance on outside shocks by boosting domestic production, creating a favourable business environment, and boosting the competitiveness of SMEs.
“Collaboration between the public and commercial sectors is necessary to establish supporting policies and programmes that assist the expansion of local enterprises and foster economic resilience, “he said.
Also, the Inauguration guest speaker, Engr. Wale Adediran, a fellow of NIMechE, charged mechanical engineers to collaborate with other professionals to achieve similar goals to the Oil and Gas sector local content act, in the manufacturing sectors.
Adediran added that locally sourced materials should be exploited to provide energy, heating, boiling and other manufacturing processes and semi- processing, to conserve foreign exchange earned, and boost foreign exchange earning on processed export products.
“Our institutions should collaborate with tertiary Institutions for developmental research and with MSMEs fabricators/inventors for EXPOS, conference and exhibitions, “he said.
In his acceptance speech as Chairman in Ibadan, Engr. Wole Ayanrinde, a fellow of NIMechE, promised to expand the institution’s membership networks by reaching out to aspiring engineers, students and professionals through targeted initiatives that would create a sense of belonging among members.
“Our administration will ensure that our members are equipped with requisite knowledge and skills to meet the evolving needs of the 2Ist Century.
“We will seek collaboration opportunities that leverage the collective expertise and resources of various stakeholder’s partnership with other institutions, industries and academia to tackle challenges, “he said.
On his part, the immediate past chairman, Engr. Victor Ogunranti, a fellow of the institute, urged the new executives to be team players and be able to harness members’ strength to get results.
Ogunranti advised the new chairman to incorporate elders of the institute in his programmes for corrections and advice when necessary.
The Inauguration also featured presentation of awards and recognitions to veteran engineers for their contributions to the development of science and technology in Nigeria.
