ARCON, First Bank partner on cooperative for housing, other deals

Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) says it is in partnership with First Bank Plc on issues to cooperative society with the facilities for housing and other dealings.

According to the outgoing President of ARCON, Sir Oladipupo Ajayi, the cooperative society had facilities for housing through common loans under the Small and Medium Enterprises through single digits

Through this process, he said it would be easy for members to track the repayment of the loans.

Listing some of the achievements recorded during his tenure as president, Ajayi stated that within the period, the number of registered architects in Nigeria increased to 4,926 from 4,232 when he assumed leadership of the council in 2018.

According to Ajayi, while delivering his valedictory speech at a ceremony in Abuja, the register of architects grew by 694 during the tenure, a period covering 2018 to 2021.

He described the exponential growth as ‘a step in the right direction,’ adding that it has posed a huge challenge to the council as a body to grow the capacity of members to match the required level of service to the society that befits the information age.

As part of his scorecard, the outgoing president of the architects’ regulatory body stated that despite the global pandemic that pervaded an appreciable period of his tenure, the council, with the help of the Minister of Work and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, have commenced the renovation of ARCON’s Lagos Office to create a working environment that motivates members of staff and befits the status of its position as the leader in the built environment.

“Only of very recent, we had reclaimed a seemingly lost property and currently in the process of erecting a befitting edifice having successfully had the ground-breaking and foundation laying ceremony on the site carried out personally by the Minister of Work and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola,” he added

During the period, he said his leadership of the council also navigated the tortuous path of legal battles in the law courts and emerged victorious in many while pursuing the path of peaceful resolution for some others.

He thanked the council members for the opportunity granted him to serve in the last three years, saying the experience has changed his life and would forever be grateful to them and the profession

“The challenge for the council is to keep moving these agenda forward with integrity, keeping the profession of architecture relevant, practical, and valuable for members, society and other stakeholders alike,’ he said.

The Registrar of ARCON, ARC. Umar Murnai, reeled out various achievements of the council between June 2018 and June 2021 through various committees

According to him, accreditation of 37 Nigerian universities that offer architecture were carried out, out of which 24 universities have been fully accredited,10 to be accredited after the expiration of their accreditation and three others 3 were on advisory visitation. According to him, two foreign universities were also accredited

He also disclosed that ARCON also signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with Executive Secretary, National Board For Technical Education (NBTE) on the 29th September, 2020 after suspension of accreditation of polytechnics for over 10 years due to disagreement between ARCON and NBTE. This, he said has now been resolved, adding that accreditation has resumed

The registrar stated that ARCON also signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with Executive Secretary, National Board For Technical Education (NBTE) on the 29th September, 2020 after suspension of accreditation of polytechnics for over 10 years due to disagreement between ARCON and NBTE. This, he said has now been resolved, adding that accreditation has resumed.

On induction of architects and technologists, Murnai disclosed that 1215 architects have been inducted out of which 694 were inducted between 2018 and 2021, representing 57 per cent inducted by the council.

Aside, he said that 134 technologists have been inducted so far out of which 91 were inducted from 2018 to 2021, representing 68 per cent.

He stated that ARCON’s Committee on Landscape Architects, Urban Designers, Interior Architects, Digital Architects has developed a template to accommodate other professionals under the same “roof of architecture”, as architectural family.

Murnai added that ARCON Rapid Response and Compliance Committee was to be established in all 36 states and Abuja, noting that 27 states and Abuja submitted list while awaiting others to inaugurate the committees to check quackery and respond to collapse buildings all over the country.

He said a committee has fashioned a road map for the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) for the training and retraining of architects.

On the issue of collapse building all over the country, Murnai stated that 18 number of collapse buildings were recorded and investigated between 2018 and 2021, adding that in all the submitted full reports, no architect or architectural firm was involved.