Institute explains admission huddles for fresh architects

Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA) has explained the huddles on the way of fresh architects seeking admission into the institute, which is the umbrella body of all architects.

According to the institute, fresh architects who attended non-accredited schools of architecture are bound to face these huddles as they would be subjected to internal examinations by the institute before being admitted.

Ibrahim Sanni Khalil, national chairman, Admissions Committee of NIA, who gave this explanation, urges intending architects to ensure they attend accredited universities for easy admission into the institute.

Khalil, who was hosted by NIA, Lagos State Chapter (NIALSC) recently, however promised that the institute would endeavour to publish accredited schools to ensure students do not continue the mistakes of attending unaccredited schools.

Fresh architects at the meeting had decried the difficulty they faced seeking admission to the institute at the national level, noting that it had cost them a lot of opportunities in the profession.

Khalil noted that government-owned schools were always the principal defaulters when it came to accreditation of universities, unlike their private schools counterparts.

He advised that parents should ensure that the universities their children study architecture in were accredited by the National University Commission (NUC), and condemned the habit of applicants refusing to go through the right process in gaining admission into the institute.

The treasurer, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), A. Ajibade, at the interactive session, decried the nonchalant attitude of the institute towards its new members, noting that it would only discourage new members from joining the institute, saying “this will consequently create a vacuum in the profession when the present ageing generation retires.”

According to him, it is more difficult admitting intending architects from the South than their counterparts from the North, a phenomenon he condemned.

He also condemned late arrival of examination invitation for new members, pointing out that all these do not project the institute in good light.

Bisi Olumide, national chairman, publicity committee, lamented the slow pace of processing the admission of new members when compared with other parallel bodies.

There was also the “cry” by old members of the institute who believed they were due for Fellowship title but have been ignored severally, a phenomena one of the affected members believed was very common in the West, unlike in the North.

Some other members lamented the national body’s constant neglect of its Lagos official in recent appointments, adding that “the decision making within the national rank does not involve them despite the large number of architects in Lagos, when compared with other states.”

Khalil commended the state chapter for hosting him and for the progress recorded by the chapter, promising to convey their complaint to the institute’s national headquarters in Abuja.

Ladipo Lewis, NIALSC chairman, asked members not to hesitate in visiting the state chapter whenever they had any issue, noting that the institute was for everybody and that one of the objectives of the state chapter was to see to the welfare of its members.

ODINAKA MBONU