Ben EbohTime it was when it was thoroughly unfashionable for arcitects to attend monthly meetings of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIALSC), often enough, there was so much despondency going round at the J.K. Randle Hall venue of the meetings, you'd rather spend more time chasing your next big break. Nowadays, there's still despondency in the air (why are architects so melancholic anyway?) but there's been a bit more energy, zest and encouragement from the center (the executives) to pull all practitioners up by their bootstraps to march on to the zenith of their calling. Two personalities stood out in that effort: Arc Ben Eboh, the outgoing Chairman and Arc Bimbo Ajayi, erstwhile Secretary to the association, who takes over from him as Chairperson. Ben Eboh's go-getting spirit in tackling the state government on collapsed buildings and town planning issues while challenging his peers on professional practice stand him in good stead, while many an architect will associate Abimbola Ajayi's name to those breezy and informative emails that kept you abreast of affairs, from the professional (meetings and conferences) to the social (funerals and birthday parties) engagements that mattered.
Little wonder then that the chapter's 2008 Biennial General meeting that held at the Agip Recital Hall of the Muson Center on Thursday the 24th of April, where Abimbola Ajayi was elected as Chairman, had an unprecedented attendance.
Little wonder then that the chapter's 2008 Biennial General meeting that held at the Agip Recital Hall of the Muson Center on Thursday the 24th of April, where Abimbola Ajayi was elected as Chairman, had an unprecedented attendance.
Bimbo Ajayi
The subsequent dinner / inauguration / awards night that held on the 25th of April at the Sheraton which almost doubled as a 'starchitects' parade saw the award of Best Architectural Expression in Bank Branch Development going to Guaranty Trust Bank (when will other banks get the message?). The Lagos State Ministry of Housing nabbed an award for Corporate Professional Best Practices in Housing Deliver (huhn?) and the University of Lagos got an award for Best Exhibition of Students Works amongst the exhibited works by students of the three schools of architecture in Lagos State (up school!).
With a smooth execution of a change in guard, the NIALSC seems set to face the challenges of inspiring, guiding and promoting the practice of Architecture in the fastest growing megalopolis on the continent. In the coming months, Bimbo Ajayi will have to prove her mettle in standing up to that onerous challenge, meanwhile, NIKE FAGADE sat Arc Ben Eboh down for questioning on his career and life after the NIA, he gave a good account of himself and is hereby summarily discharged and acquited!
-Ayodele Arigbabu
dreamarts.designagency@gmail.com
WHO IS BEN EBOH?
I am an architect and up until a few days ago, was the chairman of NIA, Lagos State Chapter. I run my own practice and I am married with kids.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I am a pioneer student of Command Secondary School, Kaduna. I moved on to The Polytechnic, Calabar and graduated with a distinction in Architecture- HND level. I did my professional exams with the Nigeria Institute of Architects and obtained a Masters Degree in Project Management from the University of Lagos. I have attended a couple of conferences abroad. I was at one by the Royal Canadian Institute of Architects, Toronto in 2007, in South Africa for another conference in 2006, and Ghana. All these under the hospices of my being the chairman of the NIA, so within that period, I was privileged to be in the delegation of the institution at a lot of these conferences.
WHY ARCHITECTURE?
Architecture is one of those professions where you tend to know if you have the flare for it or not. In terms of the fact that it is a combination of the arts and the sciences. So in as much as you may be a brilliant student and you score high marks in chemistry, mathematics and all that, you must also have a creative mind and that's what stand architects out from the crowd. You know, not just the intelligence. Early in life, I was able to discover that I have the potential and I knew I’ld do well in architecture because I thought I had a creative mind. It has paid off.
HOW DO ACHITECTS IN NIGERIA COMPARE WITH THEIR INTERNATIONAL COUNTERPARTS?
As Nigerian Architects, we have lots of potential but they hardly materialize due to very hostile operating environment that we are in. Creativity requires a great deal, you must have sacrificed a great deal of your basic needs for you to think properly and bring out the best in you. But that is not to say the Nigerian architects cannot compete in a gathering of other architects. Like i said, the operating environment and secondly, the way we practice architecture in these parts make it difficult for us to go far. For instance, most of our firms are not large enough to be able to handle the kind of job that will give us the satisfaction we require as architects. It is the same as what we had in the banking sector a few years ago. People were satisfied with just having their small banks and doing their small business until their eyes were opened to the fact that if you were a bigger bank, you could do bigger business. In most of our architectural firms in Nigeria today, I can confidently say that more than 70% of them have not more than two or three key people- that's a collection of two or three principal people between sole proprietorships and partnerships. Whereas abroad, you have firms that have as many as 70 architects in one office, with several offices across the world. So in terms of capacity, such firms are able to handle much bigger jobs than a firm that has just one or two people. Maybe it's social or... I don't know, but we seem to have a problem of trust. Even when we have partnerships, they don't last, we have one person who feels he's doing all the work and the other one is 'eating' all the money and attending all the parties and before you know it, they break up. Even the younger ones don't like working in architectural firms because they don''t see a future there for them. If I'm working for an architect, I'll be asking myself that- 'where do I want to be in the next five years?' Chances are that that architect I'm working for is already grooming his son to study architecture so that when he dies, his son becomes the CEO of the firm. And I wouldn't want to watch a kid that I saw when he was born, several years after come and become boss over me. In bigger firms, especially abroad, you can rise to the position of partner and you even retire and you still collect royalties for your works or other benefits while the younger ones take over the business and run it. That’s why our growth seems to be stunted because we haven’t explored our full potentials.
FOR HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A MEMBER OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS?
I have been a registered architect since 1994 as a full member of NIA and even before then, I had been an active member. Looking back, it’s been 15 years now.
UP UNTIL NOW, YOU WERE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE LAGOS STATE CHAPTER OF THE NIA FOR TWO TERMS. WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
It was really challenging. Before then, I was the secretary. And while I was the secretary, I performed so well that I didn’t have to contest with anybody for the post of chairman because it was as if there wasn’t anybody else that could fit in better than I could. The Lagos State Chapter of the NIA has the largest number of architects and the best architects are here in Lagos. And for one to be chosen amongst these people was a challenge because I thought from amongst my peers, I didn’t think I was the most suitable. And I wasn’t even from the South-West. For this, I took it upon myself that I had to prove myself and shouldn’t disappoint people's trust. And now, looking back at those years, I can beat my chest and say that I did so well.
HOW HAS IT BEEN DEALING WITH OTHER PROFESSIONALS IN THE INDUSTRY?
Architects have had cordial relationships with allied professionals in the field such as the town planners, quantity surveyors, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, estate surveyors and all. Although we have areas of disagreement once in a while, we have ways of resolving them because we believe that everyone have a role to play. We have mutual respect for one another, it’s just like in human relationships, you must respect yourself as an adult for others to respect you, especially the younger ones.
YOU RUN YOUR OWN PRACTICE, ARE YOU INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH ANYBODY?
I am, with my wife- she’s also an architect. I do cheat her a lot, though she understands (laughing).
MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT?
I won’t call it an embarrassing moment. Life is always a testimony to the fact that whatever you set your mind to do, you’ll do it and do it well. I recall my days in the Polytechnic- HND, it downed on me that the system in Nigeria makes it difficult for people with HND qualification to aspire to the top of their career. I was then a Polytechnic graduate with distinction and I knew I was above average and so, I told myself that I was going to rise. Unlike other professions, the starting level is a Masters degree to be called an architect. With HND like I had then, one will have to move on to get a Masters or spend longer getting the professional exams. When I started the professional exams, I was somehow embarrassed as I wasn’t sure of whether I’ll pass or how long it was going to take me to finish. During my final exams, I prepared so well and not only did I pass, I also won an award for two out of three papers in those times. I was about 26 years old then and after passing the exams, I was challenged to have done so well in the exams and thought of proving myself. I was in Calabar and so, I thought of relocating to where it was happening and then moved to Lagos. I wanted to work with the biggest firm but I wasn’t computer literate so I enrolled in a computer school. I was so focused on learning that within a short period, I became so good that my boss them gave me more work to do than some of the others. By then I was working so I wasn’t thinking of the money I was getting paid, rather I saw it as an investment in myself. They were 'using' me there but I wasn’t that bothered. I remember one of the guys I worked with then saying to our boss ‘why is it that you take work from the people who run from work and give to those of us who work very hard?’
Then it became my philosophy in life that you do unto others what you want them to do unto you and the way you do others' work, so shall others do yours.
TRIUMPHANT MOMENTS?
What motivates me is the thought that I could be the best in whatever I want do. Even when I see obstacles, I look beyond them. After my OND where I had an upper credit, I told myself that I wanted a distinction in my HND. It was like a joke but in my first semester (HND), I almost had 4.0 but for a course in which I had a credit. I moved on and I graduated as the best all round in my final year.
Also during my final one of NIA, I had never seen anyone who passed at one sitting. There were people much older than I was then, who come back to do such exams and all that. But at the end, I came out as the best all round in the last exams to become an architect. That was a really joyous and triumphant moment. Another is when I was elected as the secretary of NIALSC. I contested against someone who had more going for him than I had and was incubent. He schooled here (South-West) and had more friend here than I did. I don’t know what I said or did but I won the contest. And after that, I was encouraged to go on for the post of the chairman and no one felt it necessary to compete with me because people knew of my record and thought no one could match me. Then again, I was encouraged to go for the 2nd term. People even thought I should move on to a third term but I thought I’d done enough.
WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF NIALSC- ARC. ABIMBOLA AJAYI?
She had been my secretary for two years and she is one of the reasons I went this far. She’s extremely hardworking and every member of NIA would attest to this especially to the fact that when it comes to doing the right thing at the right time, she’s one to reckon with. She’s also great when it comes to managing people and now, she’s in the forefront, no longer at the back. The point I know of her, she’s someone who motivates those around her. She’s compassionate and caring, otherwise, I wouldn’t have encouraged her to move on to her present post.
HOW DO YOU SEE ARCHITECTURE IN NIGERIA IN THE NEXT 20YRS?
There are a lot of clauses tied to the fortune of Nigeria's economy. If the economy is to be resuscitated, one of the barometers of any economy is the construction industry. If the construction industry is bad, then the economy is bad. Architects see themselves more as professionals than business men. They need to break the jinx and see it as business. They should look and invest their money in the stock exchange, real estate and so on. Once they are involved in other things which can bring them money, they can stay afloat. Another thing is that once the environment is re-organized and things are done rightly, professionals generally and not just architects, will benefit from the order in the society.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 20YRS FROM NOW?
By then, I’ll be about 60 years old and I shouldn’t be working. So, I’ll say 10 years from now will be one of consolidation for me. I’ll pay more attention to business and lay a good foundation for my retirement and have money work for me, not otherwise. I’ll have reached the peak of my career and have made a name for the things I’ve achieved. I can’t rule out a stint in politics. I’ll look for avenues for self fulfillment, not financially. I’ll look at the hierachy of needs in sociology that says –once an individual has achieved basic needs, he will dabble into others.
With a smooth execution of a change in guard, the NIALSC seems set to face the challenges of inspiring, guiding and promoting the practice of Architecture in the fastest growing megalopolis on the continent. In the coming months, Bimbo Ajayi will have to prove her mettle in standing up to that onerous challenge, meanwhile, NIKE FAGADE sat Arc Ben Eboh down for questioning on his career and life after the NIA, he gave a good account of himself and is hereby summarily discharged and acquited!
-Ayodele Arigbabu
dreamarts.designagency@gmail.com
WHO IS BEN EBOH?
I am an architect and up until a few days ago, was the chairman of NIA, Lagos State Chapter. I run my own practice and I am married with kids.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
I am a pioneer student of Command Secondary School, Kaduna. I moved on to The Polytechnic, Calabar and graduated with a distinction in Architecture- HND level. I did my professional exams with the Nigeria Institute of Architects and obtained a Masters Degree in Project Management from the University of Lagos. I have attended a couple of conferences abroad. I was at one by the Royal Canadian Institute of Architects, Toronto in 2007, in South Africa for another conference in 2006, and Ghana. All these under the hospices of my being the chairman of the NIA, so within that period, I was privileged to be in the delegation of the institution at a lot of these conferences.
WHY ARCHITECTURE?
Architecture is one of those professions where you tend to know if you have the flare for it or not. In terms of the fact that it is a combination of the arts and the sciences. So in as much as you may be a brilliant student and you score high marks in chemistry, mathematics and all that, you must also have a creative mind and that's what stand architects out from the crowd. You know, not just the intelligence. Early in life, I was able to discover that I have the potential and I knew I’ld do well in architecture because I thought I had a creative mind. It has paid off.
HOW DO ACHITECTS IN NIGERIA COMPARE WITH THEIR INTERNATIONAL COUNTERPARTS?
As Nigerian Architects, we have lots of potential but they hardly materialize due to very hostile operating environment that we are in. Creativity requires a great deal, you must have sacrificed a great deal of your basic needs for you to think properly and bring out the best in you. But that is not to say the Nigerian architects cannot compete in a gathering of other architects. Like i said, the operating environment and secondly, the way we practice architecture in these parts make it difficult for us to go far. For instance, most of our firms are not large enough to be able to handle the kind of job that will give us the satisfaction we require as architects. It is the same as what we had in the banking sector a few years ago. People were satisfied with just having their small banks and doing their small business until their eyes were opened to the fact that if you were a bigger bank, you could do bigger business. In most of our architectural firms in Nigeria today, I can confidently say that more than 70% of them have not more than two or three key people- that's a collection of two or three principal people between sole proprietorships and partnerships. Whereas abroad, you have firms that have as many as 70 architects in one office, with several offices across the world. So in terms of capacity, such firms are able to handle much bigger jobs than a firm that has just one or two people. Maybe it's social or... I don't know, but we seem to have a problem of trust. Even when we have partnerships, they don't last, we have one person who feels he's doing all the work and the other one is 'eating' all the money and attending all the parties and before you know it, they break up. Even the younger ones don't like working in architectural firms because they don''t see a future there for them. If I'm working for an architect, I'll be asking myself that- 'where do I want to be in the next five years?' Chances are that that architect I'm working for is already grooming his son to study architecture so that when he dies, his son becomes the CEO of the firm. And I wouldn't want to watch a kid that I saw when he was born, several years after come and become boss over me. In bigger firms, especially abroad, you can rise to the position of partner and you even retire and you still collect royalties for your works or other benefits while the younger ones take over the business and run it. That’s why our growth seems to be stunted because we haven’t explored our full potentials.
FOR HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A MEMBER OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS?
I have been a registered architect since 1994 as a full member of NIA and even before then, I had been an active member. Looking back, it’s been 15 years now.
UP UNTIL NOW, YOU WERE THE CHAIRMAN OF THE LAGOS STATE CHAPTER OF THE NIA FOR TWO TERMS. WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
It was really challenging. Before then, I was the secretary. And while I was the secretary, I performed so well that I didn’t have to contest with anybody for the post of chairman because it was as if there wasn’t anybody else that could fit in better than I could. The Lagos State Chapter of the NIA has the largest number of architects and the best architects are here in Lagos. And for one to be chosen amongst these people was a challenge because I thought from amongst my peers, I didn’t think I was the most suitable. And I wasn’t even from the South-West. For this, I took it upon myself that I had to prove myself and shouldn’t disappoint people's trust. And now, looking back at those years, I can beat my chest and say that I did so well.
HOW HAS IT BEEN DEALING WITH OTHER PROFESSIONALS IN THE INDUSTRY?
Architects have had cordial relationships with allied professionals in the field such as the town planners, quantity surveyors, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, estate surveyors and all. Although we have areas of disagreement once in a while, we have ways of resolving them because we believe that everyone have a role to play. We have mutual respect for one another, it’s just like in human relationships, you must respect yourself as an adult for others to respect you, especially the younger ones.
YOU RUN YOUR OWN PRACTICE, ARE YOU INTO PARTNERSHIP WITH ANYBODY?
I am, with my wife- she’s also an architect. I do cheat her a lot, though she understands (laughing).
MOST EMBARASSING MOMENT?
I won’t call it an embarrassing moment. Life is always a testimony to the fact that whatever you set your mind to do, you’ll do it and do it well. I recall my days in the Polytechnic- HND, it downed on me that the system in Nigeria makes it difficult for people with HND qualification to aspire to the top of their career. I was then a Polytechnic graduate with distinction and I knew I was above average and so, I told myself that I was going to rise. Unlike other professions, the starting level is a Masters degree to be called an architect. With HND like I had then, one will have to move on to get a Masters or spend longer getting the professional exams. When I started the professional exams, I was somehow embarrassed as I wasn’t sure of whether I’ll pass or how long it was going to take me to finish. During my final exams, I prepared so well and not only did I pass, I also won an award for two out of three papers in those times. I was about 26 years old then and after passing the exams, I was challenged to have done so well in the exams and thought of proving myself. I was in Calabar and so, I thought of relocating to where it was happening and then moved to Lagos. I wanted to work with the biggest firm but I wasn’t computer literate so I enrolled in a computer school. I was so focused on learning that within a short period, I became so good that my boss them gave me more work to do than some of the others. By then I was working so I wasn’t thinking of the money I was getting paid, rather I saw it as an investment in myself. They were 'using' me there but I wasn’t that bothered. I remember one of the guys I worked with then saying to our boss ‘why is it that you take work from the people who run from work and give to those of us who work very hard?’
Then it became my philosophy in life that you do unto others what you want them to do unto you and the way you do others' work, so shall others do yours.
TRIUMPHANT MOMENTS?
What motivates me is the thought that I could be the best in whatever I want do. Even when I see obstacles, I look beyond them. After my OND where I had an upper credit, I told myself that I wanted a distinction in my HND. It was like a joke but in my first semester (HND), I almost had 4.0 but for a course in which I had a credit. I moved on and I graduated as the best all round in my final year.
Also during my final one of NIA, I had never seen anyone who passed at one sitting. There were people much older than I was then, who come back to do such exams and all that. But at the end, I came out as the best all round in the last exams to become an architect. That was a really joyous and triumphant moment. Another is when I was elected as the secretary of NIALSC. I contested against someone who had more going for him than I had and was incubent. He schooled here (South-West) and had more friend here than I did. I don’t know what I said or did but I won the contest. And after that, I was encouraged to go on for the post of the chairman and no one felt it necessary to compete with me because people knew of my record and thought no one could match me. Then again, I was encouraged to go for the 2nd term. People even thought I should move on to a third term but I thought I’d done enough.
WHAT CAN YOU SAY ABOUT THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF NIALSC- ARC. ABIMBOLA AJAYI?
She had been my secretary for two years and she is one of the reasons I went this far. She’s extremely hardworking and every member of NIA would attest to this especially to the fact that when it comes to doing the right thing at the right time, she’s one to reckon with. She’s also great when it comes to managing people and now, she’s in the forefront, no longer at the back. The point I know of her, she’s someone who motivates those around her. She’s compassionate and caring, otherwise, I wouldn’t have encouraged her to move on to her present post.
HOW DO YOU SEE ARCHITECTURE IN NIGERIA IN THE NEXT 20YRS?
There are a lot of clauses tied to the fortune of Nigeria's economy. If the economy is to be resuscitated, one of the barometers of any economy is the construction industry. If the construction industry is bad, then the economy is bad. Architects see themselves more as professionals than business men. They need to break the jinx and see it as business. They should look and invest their money in the stock exchange, real estate and so on. Once they are involved in other things which can bring them money, they can stay afloat. Another thing is that once the environment is re-organized and things are done rightly, professionals generally and not just architects, will benefit from the order in the society.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 20YRS FROM NOW?
By then, I’ll be about 60 years old and I shouldn’t be working. So, I’ll say 10 years from now will be one of consolidation for me. I’ll pay more attention to business and lay a good foundation for my retirement and have money work for me, not otherwise. I’ll have reached the peak of my career and have made a name for the things I’ve achieved. I can’t rule out a stint in politics. I’ll look for avenues for self fulfillment, not financially. I’ll look at the hierachy of needs in sociology that says –once an individual has achieved basic needs, he will dabble into others.
1 comments:
dear sir, i am extremely impressed with this page.however, i write to seek your kind permission to be our special guest of honour at our proposed university public lecture on BUILDING COLLAPSE at the OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY, ILE-IFE. If we get ur email, the full package shall be fowarded to you sir. ours is, dessinateursoau@yahoo.com,
for the faculty of ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN AND MANAGEMENT, OAU.
OBIORAH EMMANUEL.
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