The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has held a job fair for unemployed graduates in the profession with the aim of match-making the young professionals and employers in the construction sector.

The fair, held in Abuja, brought together job seekers, quantity surveying firms, multi-disciplinary consulting firms, employees seeking to change job positions, building and engineering construction companies, human resource consulting companies, mortgage banks, real estate developers, construction materials manufacturers and dealers/merchants.

The President of NIQS, Olayemi Shonubi, said the institute was committed to providing the avenue for young quantity surveyors to get lucrative employment.

He stressed that it was necessary to drive the process of job creation and building career opportunities for the entrants into the profession because the nation currently faced the challenge of providing enough qualitative jobs of this calibre of professionals.

The special guest of honour at the event, a former Governor of Bauchi State, Mr Mohammed Abubakar (SAN), commended NIQS for providing job seekers the opportunity of instant recruitment which had reduced the time and effort spent by employers and employees to complete recruitment processes.

Abubakar, who traced the evolution of quantity surveying to construction of the pyramids and temples of ancient Egypt at a time that the quantity surveyor was called the “measurer of royal works”, said as a profession that was responsible for the management of all costs associated with building and civil engineering projects, quantity surveying played an important role in the economy of every nation, even as he encouraged practitioners to embrace the use of technology so as to survive in the ever changing world.

He said, “Today, the quantity surveyor is known by many other names such as ‘construction cost consultant’, ‘building economist’, ‘construction accountant’ and ‘contractual and procurement specialist’.

Some of the firms that attended the fair are Berger Paints Nigeria, Rural Homes Limited, CDD Infrastructure Limited, Silk Plaster Nigeria, Joseph Afe & Partners, Cosperts Associates and Lubell Nigeria Limited. Others are Ward & Partners Limited, UYK Nigeria Limited, H & M Nigeria Limited, Onyx Construction Limited, Gimba & Partners and Tri-Active Builders Limited.