Women surveyors canvass gender sensitivity, NIQS partners NAF

The Women Association of Quantity Surveyors in Nigeria has called on the government and private sector operators to involve more women in leadership and decision making processes.

Also, the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, the parent body of WAQSN, is partnering the Nigerian Air Force in ensuring adequate execution of construction projects in line with international best practices.

Speaking in Abuja on the occasion of her investiture as the 6th Chairperson of WAQSN, Aishatu Mohammed, stated that women were major stakeholders in the development of any society.

She said, “Globally, the issue of women marginalization and low participation in leadership and decision making have been attracting a lot of attention from scholars.

“There is a general feeling that despite the Beijing declaration of 1995, many organizations are still gender insensitive.

“Laws and customers make it much harder for women to access the factor of production, obtain an education, train themselves, access information, good healthcare and stand independently in the public arena.”

Mohammed argued that this should not be allowed to continue, but was quick to state that there had been some progress in recent times.

“Women have been moving steadily into professions and managerial jobs previously reserved for men. The construction industry which was formally dominated by men is now paving ways for women to excel,” she said.

This came as the President, NIQS, Abba Tor, announced during a courtesy visit to the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, that the institute would explore areas of mutual interest and collaboration between the NAF and NIQS.

Tor urged the NAF boss to employ more quantity surveyors into the service to enable them to play crucial roles in the cost management of all building and engineering projects being handled by the Nigerian Air Force.

Responding, Abubakar assured his guests that the NAF would immediately key into the opportunities provided by the NIQS in the areas of training and evaluation of construction projects.

source: PUNCH