The Nigerian Institution of Highway and Transportation Engineers (NIHTE) has conferred its fellowship on 30 engineers and presented three special merit awards for outstanding leadership.
The conferment was the highlight of the 2026 NIHTE Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting tagged EKO 2026.
The event took place on Saturday at the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Lagos Branch Auditorium in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference had the theme, “Diversifying Nigeria’s Economy Through Strategic Intermodal Transportation Links”.
The President of the NSE, Mr Ali Rabiu, commended NIHTE for continuous drive toward professional excellence and capacity development.
He was represented by a past Chairman of NSE, Lagos Branch, Mr Oluyemi Oludayo.
Rabiu said that the theme of the conference aligned with the urgent national need to establish integrated and globally-competitive infrastructure.
He invited engineers to the 2026 NSE International Engineering Conference scheduled to hold from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 in Maiduguri.
In his Keynote address, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi, said that transport served as the primary operating system of any growing economy.
He was represented by an engineer, Mr Bada Folarin.
Osiyemi called for shift from road-dominated freight to an interconnected intermodal network linking rail, inland waterways, seaports and air transport.
He said that reducing logistics delays at ports and on roads would cut production costs, lower food prices and boost Nigeria’s international trade competitiveness.
The guest lecturer and immediate past Chairman of NSE, Lagos Branch, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, urged engineers to prioritise climate-resilient and long-term design strategies.
Kesha spoke on: “The Business of Sustainability: How Engineers Can Lead Nigeria’s Economic Transformation”.
She mentioned key projects such as the 750km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as critical investments for unlocking the blue economy.
She advised engineering practitioners to move away from short-term maintenance toward sustainable ones and local content utilisation.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Mr Adekunle Bello, said that strategic intermodal transport remained vital to connecting major agricultural and industrial production hubs to final markets.
The Acting National Chairman of NIHTE, Dr Bola Mudasiru, said that addressing infrastructure deficits would require transparent public-private partnerships, climate-resilient engineering standards, and robust policy execution.
Mudasiru congratulated the 30 new fellows, reminding them that the honour was a call to a higher duty, mentorship and continued service toward building a safer and more prosperous Nigeria.(NAN)
