The President, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Engr. Prof. Sadiq Abubakar has urged the Ahmadu Bello University graduating students from the Department of Engineering to imbibe the strict ethics of the profession.
It was reported that a total of 885 graduates from the 10 departments of the Faculty of Engineering were on Monday inducted as professional members of COREN and the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
The COREN President gave the advice at the induction and membership oath-taking ceremony, which was presided over by the representative of the NSE President, Engr. Age Agbaa with the Chairman, NSE Zaria branch and the Registrar of COREN, Prof. Adisa Bello.
According to him, both the NSE and COREN, as professional bodies, have a lot of regulations and ethics published to serve as guides to their members in terms of professional conduct and practice.
“If you’re in practice and you commit an infraction, we’ll get you arrested as provided by law because we will not jeopardise public lives and properties of Nigerians.
“To ensure professionalism, COREN and NSE are committed to retraining and renewing the licenses of its members to practice, and that’s the checks and balancing we’re doing,” Sadiq said.
He disclosed that there’s already a framework to change the direction of engineering education in all Nigerian universities and polytechnics to meet up with the global standard.
“Part of the framework was a mandatory internship programme before going for the National Youths Service Corps to enhance placements of engineering graduates and also the mandatory renewal of practising licence annually,” the COREN president noted.
He stressed that if implemented, each engineer would have the right to practice anywhere across the globe, in addition to attaining any position in both the public and private sector.
Sadiq called for collaboration between COREN and NUC in terms of accreditation of programs into Nigerian universities to ensure work effectiveness and avoid overlapping of functions.
“There was already a similar arrangement with NBTE and COREN in the Polytechnics,” he added.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Kabir Bala, who was represented by the Provost College of Medical Sciences, Prof. Sani Shehu emphasised the need for the students to be good ambassadors of the university by discharging professionalism in their field of work.
Agbaa, who represented the NSE President, Engr. Margaret Oguntala urged the students to imbibe the spirit of selfless service, commitment, integrity, and honesty as they go into practice.
While calling on the students to network with major professionals, she noted, “Together, we can build a better future for Nigeria.”
