The Nigerian Society of Engineers has urged the federal government to ensure the appointment of more engineers into engineering based areas of the economy to check the deplorable state of infrastructure in the country.

President of the society, Engineer Otis Anyaeji, said that the condition of Nigeria’s infrastructure has become a threat to public safety resulting to incessant loss of lives across all sectors.

Recently, over 30 persons have lost their lives in building collapse and road accidents resulting from poor and substandard infrastructure. The engineering society said that more government funding and private partnership would reverse the trend.

Aside from the issue of inadequate funding, they said that government must also amend existing laws to encourage private partnerships such as the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission Act.

The 2015 infrastructure scorecard by the Nigerian Society of Engineers rates Nigeria’s infrastructure status as E2; that represents a deplorable state of affairs which they say poses a threat to public safety.

While this appears to be an indictment on Nigerian engineers, Mr Anyaeji, explained that they have not been allowed by government to occupy the appropriate positions of authority that would help ensure the right state of affairs.

The engineering boss believes that Nigeria does not need external help or funding to change the state of its infrastructure and cause economic development.

He said that domestic manufacturing and agro business are enough to generate internal revenue that can finance the nation’s infrastructure development.