The World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development 2022 was observed here at the American University of Nigeria in the best tradition of a learning community. AUN has a young School of Engineering which boasts first-class faculty and an innovative curriculum.
Chair of AUN's Chemical Engineering Department, Professor Feyisayo Victoria Adams, was the guest speaker as the Yola branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) marked the day with a series of events in their Jimeta secretariat.
Under the theme “Build Back Wiser – Engineering the Future,” Professor Adams, in her talk, which centered on clean water and sanitation, argued that engineers in Nigeria have a crucial role in improving the quality of life by developing and providing necessary community infrastructure and services. This, she said, includes the provision and even distribution of clean water and ensuring access to appropriate sanitation facilities.
Declaring sanitation as a human right, Professor Adams contended that human rights law promotes achieving universal access to water and sanitation for all, without discrimination, while prioritizing those who need it most.
Prof Adams warned that Nigeria is at severe risk of missing the Strategic Development Goal (SDG) number 6, which seeks to provide water and sanitation for all by 2030. The significant constraints, she noted, are a decline in funding (as many more sectors are making demands on funds due to COVID 19), rising demand for water, water pollution, and existing governance structures which she described as "often weak and fragmented."
Professor Adams said that the universal aspiration to realize SDG Goal 6 by 2030 can be realized by expanding international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programs. She listed water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling, and reuse technologies.
Nigerian engineers, she said, must contribute to realizing this SDG goal by supporting and strengthening the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.
Professor Adams also tasked engineers in Nigeria to design sustainable systems that will ensure that everyone has access to clean water and sanitation, advocate for and invest in water security and research and development, promote the inclusion of women, youth, and indigenous communities in water resources governance, and generate awareness of these roles and turn them into action.
"This will result in increased sustainability and integrity for both human and ecological systems, and an understanding of the impact of climate change on water security because sustainable management of water resources and access to safe water, as well as sanitation, is essential for unlocking economic growth and productivity.
"Engineers need to go back to the drawing board to bring together new innovations and sustainable ways by which SDG6 can be achieved as planned,” she stated.
In 2019, in conjunction with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), UNESCO officially declared March 4 the World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development to celebrate engineering and the contribution of engineers to a better and sustainable world.