Metrospeed exposes Yabatech students to practical engineering

2026-03-18 - 01:53

By Prince Osuagwu Students of Civil Engineering st Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) recently came face to face with practical tech engineering when they visited the sprawling 97-hectare lagoon-front Metro Smart City project site in Lekki last week. it was their first real encounter with the world their textbooks had only described. The field trip, organised by Geotechnical Engineering lecturer and Chief Executive Officer of the Engineering Resource Academy, Dr. Omolola Adetona, was born out of a growing concern – that Nigeria’s young engineers were losing touch with the practical demands of their chosen profession. “Over the years, we’ve discovered that young engineers are not living up to expectations as compared with sustainability of our profession,” Dr. Adetona said at the Lekki head office of Metrospeed Group before being taken to the project site. She explained that she organised the visit to show students that civil engineering was a living, evolving discipline that extended far beyond lecture notes and whiteboards. “There is a need to expose them to the environment. They need to see that civil engineering is going far. Studying engineering is not just sit in the class and write on the board – they need to see what the Y and the X they’re learning is turning out to be in the environment,” she added. The site they were taken to offered a compelling case study. Metrospeed’s ongoing smart city development – a lagoon-front project incorporating fibre optics infrastructure, solar panels, a central water system, rainwater collection facilities, high-rise commercial buildings, and multiple entry and exit points – represents one of the most technologically ambitious real estate undertakings in Lagos State today. For Metrospeed Group’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Emike Ntiokiet, the visit was as much about inspiring the next generation of engineers as it was about showcasing the company’s vision. She used the opportunity to challenge the students to think beyond the industry’s status quo, arguing that Lagos’s expanding population and mounting housing deficit demanded a fundamentally different approach to development. “In the nearest future, it’s not going to be enough to just have a structure. What will stand out are your infrastructures, not just the beautiful houses anymore. So that’s why we are very big on this,” she said. Ntiokiet also framed the visit as an expression of Metrospeed’s broader commitment to nurturing talent, pledging that the company would continue to open its doors to engineering students and young graduates eager to contribute to Nigeria’s built environment. “Metrospeed is big on capacity building and it is part of the ways to give back to the society, especially to engineering students,” she said. At the project site, Engineer Abdulhameed Salahudeen reinforced the message, making the case for more frequent industry exposure among engineering undergraduates and recommending project site visits at least three times per semester. “When you are just learning about theory without seeing the practical, sometimes the knowledge you gain will not stick to your brain the way it would when you are doing it practically on the field,” he said. For the students, the visit delivered exactly the jolt of inspiration it was designed to provide. Afolami Omotosho left the site visibly energised, describing Metrospeed’s smart city ambition as proof that world-class development was possible within Nigeria’s borders. “They are quite ambitious to have embarked on such a project. I admire ambitious people because they teach me that things can be done,” he said.