.. as BUK honours COREN President Engr. Ali Rabiu
…advises COREN on quality assurance and standards in engineering
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) is pursuing a new policy that will strengthen the process of accredition and certification of engineering graduates in Nigerian tertiary institutions so as to be in conformity with the international Engineering Alliance (IEA), Standards.
President of COREN, Engr. Aliyu A. Rabi’u who stated this during a reception organized in his honour by the Management of Bayero University on Wednesday, 18th September, 2019 at the Senate Chamber, said, already the body had begun a discussion with a global engineering body that will make COREN accredited engineering programs have a similar status with its counterparts at international level.
According to him, the idea is to make it easy for our engineers, so that they will not be subjected to any international accreditation wherever they find themselves in the world. “Once we accredit a programme in any institution, it suffices anywhere in the world.”
He said based on the Washington Accord reached during the global meeting of the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) in which countries from Europe and America among others being the countries signatories to the Accord, have agreed on the institutionalization of certain mechanisms which will give an international recognition of registered engineers from the member countries. Part of the procedure is to have an independent accreditation body.
Earlier speaking, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Muhammad Yahuza Bello, said when they heard of the election of Engr. Aliyu Rabi’u as COREN President, the Management felt that as an Alumnus of BUK, the University was obliged to host a befitting reception in his
honour.
According to him, the COREN President had made the University proud in view of his sterling contributions to engineering profession in particular and national development in general. “You are a true and good ambassador of this University and we wish you a
successful tenure and be a good ambassador of your alma mata.”
He also advised COREN in its determination for quality assurance and standards to liaise with other regulatory bodies, particularly the National Universities Commission (NUC) in the aspect of accreditation of programs so as to have synergy and efficiency.
Meanwhile, the COREN President advised Nigerian Universities to concentrate on programmes relevant to their environment especially in the area of science, technology and innovation which he said were the triple pillars of growth and development of any society.
He said he was overwhelmed by the infrastructural development of the university in the last twenty years, which, according to him were the manifestation of good and quality leadership over the time. “On my arrival, we went round the University and were taken to the Solar energy project. In fact, I was amazed by the project with and other ones I had seen. I am really proud to be associated with BUK,” he declared.
He reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring standards and quality in the engineering program across the nations’s tertiary institutions.
Responding, the Vice Chancellor said engineering is a noble profession which plays significant role in the development of a nation. He thanked the COREN President for the visit.
Report by Lamara Garba
Hello can you help us inform those in charge that the Nigeria Atomic energy commission is yet to implement the enhanced entry level approved since last year as coren registered engineers are still being payed peanuts
There is no reasonable person around the world who want to employ a worker and would not administer some form of evaluation. Doctors from Nigeria going abroad to work get some form of examination.
We cannot force the international community to accept our wrong concept of “Handwork Engineer” instead of ‘Ingenious Engineer’. I think there is a deliberate conspiracy to continue undermining this profession in Africa by some forces out there. I said this because Engineers out here use these terms in their proper context.
COREN cannot continue to remain a parastatal of (hand) Works Ministry – or any other ministry – because it is coupled to so many, if not all, ministries in several ways and would amount to all other ones being at the mercy of just one contemporary Minister. It would entail, for instance, that COREN cannot intervein into importation of nonworking equipment into the nation’s health facilities (in the Health Ministry) or standardize the training of future Ingeniers (through Education Ministry) without the interference of (hand) Works’ Minister. This may be manageable if and only if the Works Minister was defined as ‘must be an Ingenier’ but that is not the case on most occasions.
Another important point raised is universally acceptable evaluation standard. One way to this is to discountenance the current handwork assessment/evaluation in the selection of Ingeniers as well as the copy’n’paste search-engine definition of engineering from Europe or elsewhere – that only portrays Ingeniers as mere elites with over-rated paper certificates – and focus on functional role of Ingeniers.