Abiodun Solicits For Collaboration Between Royal Institute of British Architect, Ogun Tertiary Institutions

Abiodun Solicits For Collaboration Between Royal Institute of British Architect, Ogun Tertiary Institutions

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has solicited for collaboration between the Royal Institute of British Architects and tertiary institutions in Ogun State, offering architecture as a course of study.

The governor also challenged the Nigerians Institute of Architecture (NIA) to design a competition that would inspire architecture students in the country to sharpen their skills and come up with masterpieces for the development of the country.

Governor Abiodun spoke on Tuesday when he played host to the President of the Royal Institute of British Architect, Mr. Muyiwa Oki, in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Muyiwa Oki is a Nigerian-born British architect who, on September 2023, emerged the 80th President of the Royal Institute of British Architect, thus becoming the youngest and first black president at the age of 32.

The governor, who described Mr. Oki’s feat as uncommon, having defied all odds to become the first black man to lead the institute, urged him to ensure the felicitation of such collaboration in such areas as research and development.

He said: “We believe that through your office, you should support your home State (Ogun). We have in some of our tertiary institutions Department of Architecture and I believe that a collaboration with you and your office in terms of research into how to build more sustainable and affordable housing units will go a long way.”

The governor said that his administration has constructed about 3,500 affordable houses at Kobape, a suburb of Abeokuta and turned the area into a bubbling town, noting that similar projects have been executed in Sagamu, Ota, Ilaro and Ijebu-Ode.

“We have done this believing that beyond making people landlords, we look at the entire value-chain, the entire eco-system which starts with architecture that design our sustainable and affordable housing but also the workers in terms of the artisans, bricklayers, carpenters, painters, among others and this created jobs for the people,” he said.