• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Experts converge for sustainable infrastructural development

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Experts drawn from the local, continental and international infrastructural industry will converge in Lagos from Wednesday 28th to discuss sustainability in infrastructural for national development in a 3-days Series which will run through to Friday, March 30th to discuss on ways Nigeria can develop its infrastructure and mark the 7th edition of the International Conference on Infrastructure and Development in Africa (ICIDA).

 

The theme for this year’s edition ‘The Complexity of Infrastructure System: What are We Fixing’ seeks to look at Africa’s infrastructural gaps and proffer solutions towards ameliorating the challenges in the sector using comparative analysis with modern innovations with emphasis on economic, social and environmental sustainability.

 

The event is in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana and Bells University of Technology, Ota, Nigeria, while the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Ikorodu will function as the host of the event.

 

“We are bringing these people to partner with us to see what could be done to improve the situation of things generally. The conference will also bring about the recent research developments so that we will see the effect of this on infrastructural development unlike where you just have policymakers and government functionaries coming to give you policy papers; this is a departure from that,” Nurudeen Bashorun, chairman, Local Organising Committee said in a statement made available to BusinessDay.

 

Bashorun, disclosed that this year is unique with the presence of professionals, practitioners and academic all under the same roof with the main aim of dissecting infrastructural problems at the same time, profound sustainable solutions to them.

 

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Reacting to the team’s decision to have the event in LASPOTECH, Bashorun explained that the conference seeks to position the polytechnic globally because LASPOTECH is the only polytechnic in ICIDA, adding that it will help expose the polytechnic and bring about development in terms of educational development.

 

“For this year’s edition, no fewer than 1,000 participants are expected to grace the conference and over 70 papers have been reviewed and found suitable for the presentation that will impact on the African continents,” Bashorun added.

To register, individuals and representatives of organisations are also encouraged to register via icidaafrica.org

 

At the end of the event, a resource document will be produced, forwarded and circulated for concerted efforts at achieving the discussed objectives for National development as far as Infrastructural sustainability is concerned, he said.

 

Keynote speakers for the event include; Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister for Power, Works & Housing; Aare  Afe Babalola, president/founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) while the Lead speakers include – Nurudeen Rafindadi, managing director, Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Abuja FCT; U.G. Muhammed, managing director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Maitama District, Abuja; Adekunle Oyinloye, managing director, The Infrastructure Bank; Chidi Izuwah, director general, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Abuja FCT among others.