NICE National Chairman & her Team Visits Ag. DG/NBRRI & his Management Team – 16th July, 2020. The Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), Engr. Mrs. Aishatu Aliyu Umar in company of her team comprising of Engr. J.O. Akinteye, Engr. And Mrs. Fadeyi Olaniyi Lawrence, Engr. AbudulkareemOlayinka, Engr. Dominic O. Akuboh, Engr. Sharafadeen and Nasiru Lawal paid a courtesy visit to the Acting Director General of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Jabi Abuja on Thursday, 16th July, 2020 at about 11am. The NICE delegation were received by the Ag. DG, Engr. Samson Duna and his management team at the commissions corporate head office located at I.T.Igbani Street OffAwolowo Way, Jabi, Abuja. Both parties introduced themselves and members of their teams while the apology of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NICE, Engr. Sen. Femi Kila was tendered by the NICE National Chairman, Engr. Mrs. Aishatu Aliyu Umar. The NICE National Chairman thereafter presented her speech stating the purpose of their visit. She started by recognising the existing partnership and cooperation between the two parties and congratulating the Ag. DG on his well-deserved appointment as well as the completion of the corporate head office of NBRRI. She further raised concerns on the plight of the indigenous people of Jabi on the incessant building collapses within their community received through the EtsuJabi, HRH Alh. Yakubu Auta who had hosted her and her team on 15th July, 2020. She reiterated the need for concerted effort and alliances to curb the menace of building collapses and pledged to do all within the institutions capacity to support NBRRI achieve it’s mandate. She also sought collaboration on the areas of training and capacity building, publication of research findings of NBRRI through the Journal of Civil Engineering, A Publication of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers as well as making the institution’s laboratory facilities available to civil engineering students for the conduct of researches. She further gave a brief rundown of her achievements since inception to include international alliances with World Council of Civil Engineers, Russian Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, United Kingdom, American Society of Civil Engineers as well as the Ghana Institution of Civil Engineers. Establishment of National Secretariat in Abuja, Membership drive and growth as well as conduct of International Engineering conference at Maiduguri in November, 2019 were also mentioned. She concluded by soliciting the Ag. DG’s support in executing the many programmes of the Institution and requested him to also ensure that all Civil Engineers in his Organisation are registered with the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers to facilitate both parties explore other areas of mutual benefits. She then invited the Ag. DG/NBRRI and his Management Team to visit the NICE National Secretariat at his convenience. In his response, the Ag. DG admonished the giant strides and achievements as well as the quest of the National Chairman for success in all her endeavours and pledged that his Institute will support NICE as it has always done. He also thanked the Management staff of NBRRI for their qualitative advice and support. He officially welcomed NICE delegates to his facility and highlighted the mandate of NBRRI which is research and development of Building Materials and roads with a bid to adding demonstrated value. He mentioned that the institute had established two Pozzolana Plants at Ota, Ogun State and Bokkos, Plateau State respectively with the aim of finding an alternative for cement and grow the economy as Pozzolana produced from volcanic ash (pumice or scoria) was environmentally friendly amongst other advantages in comparison to cement production. Products of the Institution’s research are usually exhibited during programme such as NICE conferences. He further stated the synergy between NBRRI and the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) while stating that the DG/NBRRI is a member of the board of the SON. Relevance of Civil Engineering in the Society was also given by him with practical examples. He gave a highlight of the various departments of NBRRI and invited NICE delegation to inspect her state-of-the-art laboratory facilities prior to departure. He recommended that both parties an get involved in joint researches as well as workshops and seminars of which he charged NICE to come up with suitable resource persons for the workshop collaborations while NVRRI provides the needed logistics. He welcomed the exchange of ideas and papers for publication and made himself available to be a reviewer for the Journal of Civil Engineering, A Publication of NICE. He then directed Engr. Dr. Sule to compile the list of all Civil Engineers in NBRRI with the aim of getting them registered with NICE. On the issue of building collapse, he noted that he has appeared for interviews on