The Nigerian Institute of Architects has revealed plans to promote and encourage the use of local building materials in Nigeria.
The NIA president, Arc Arc Enyi Ben-Eboh, made this disclosure in Abuja during the 2023 Archibuilt Expo 2023, theme:”Driving a sustainable economy through the build environment” held in Abuja.
He said that over the years, the Institute has sought to bring out new technology and new materials that are sustainable and are fit for our environment.
He stated that the economy today does not support much imports and no country can survive when it depends entirely on imports.
“We have a situation where within our environment, we want to encourage those people who are into manufacturing of components that are useful in our building to come and make them available through an exhibition to architects and the architects can first and foremost be aware that this materials are locally available and also get to network and specify some of these products in their design.
“This year is going to be an innovative frame in a way architects are going to be carried out and in this year’s Archibuilt we features in; innovation hub to our offerings to enable stakeholders get a feel of new developments in the industry especially in the ICT revolution.
“We all know that in this era, technology drives a lot of things and for you to be more efficient in the way you do things you must embrace technology,” he stated.
According to him, Archibuilt Expo is a paramount exhibition of Construction Systems and Building Materials in Nigeria. It started in 1990 and is the first of its kind in Nigeria. Even though today there exists a number of seeming competitors, we make bold to state that our vision of over 30 years is yet to be surpassed.
Its primary objective is to connect industry stakeholders such as architects, builders and engineers with sources of quality products. These are products that have met our seal of durability and performance requirements. Our role in this regard is capable of mitigating some of the negative occurrences that have bedevilled our industry in times past.