Description
Tolani E Eric Morgan came to Lagos, Nigeria in April 1960 from a London based consulting firm to work with Cappa & D’Alberto Ltd – a construction company in Nigeria. They were constructing the Western House in Lagos and Cocoa House in Ibadan – two of the tallest buildings in Africa at that time.Under the spell of West Africa, he did not return to London and rose through the ranks to become Chief Engineer for Group Consultants, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm that, following the Biafra War conflict, were engaged in projects including Lagos Garrison establishments for the Nigerian Army. Additional staff were recruited from UK to work on these projects, one of such was Gabriel Omonitan who had been studying Engineering and working in London.Morgan’s & Omonitan’s increasing profiles and the various developments taking place following the end of the war, encouraged the two of them to set up an engineering consulting firm in 1972 – Morgan Omonitan & Associates. They started from a small office on Strachan Street, Lagos Island with one draftsman who also made the tea! Inevitably, early assignments were smaller projects, barely sufficient to support the outgoings, but as the firm gained the confidence of architects and clients, larger commissions followed – such as the Conference Centre at Lagos University, Apex Paper Mill at Ijora and the Nichemtex Textiles Factory at Ikorodu.By 1974, there was a lot of development in the North of Nigeria especially with the building of textile industries, and the firm decided to actively pursue projects in that region.The structural engineering consultancy practice of P.J.Norton & Associates based in Kaduna was acquired on the retirement of its owner, and formed the basis of the MO&A office in Kaduna.An early achievement for this office was an appointment for structural engineering consultancy services to Peugeot Automobile Nigeria for their new assembly plant being constructed in Kaduna, an appointment which continued for many years. Projects from the textiles sector were awarded to the firm, in particular large new mills in Kaduna, Gusau and Funtua as well as substantial extensions to other existing mills in the region.The Lagos operation was also expanding rapidly, with commissions from a growing client list, for many large commercial developments and industrial buildings. Evolution, retirement, and succession planning saw the 3 current Directors of the company progressively taking over the leadership and management of the company from 1988 to date. The rich history and proud legacy of the founders of the firm is appreciated by the team at MO&A. This vibrant group of individuals strive to overcome the challenges of modern day engineering project design, execution and management as the firm continues to evolve and expand to accomplish ground breaking projects and developments in Nigeria and within the region.