By ABAH ADAH, Abuja
Stakeholders have identified poor remuneration, weak regulatory enforcement, lack of collaboration among others as the factors stifling the development of the engineering profession in Nigeria.
Speaking at the recently concluded 33rd COREN General Assembly in Abuja, Senator Iyiola Omisore noted that the poor engineering remuneration structure in Nigeria had led to brain drain among top engineering talents.
Omisore, who argued that engineering impacts every sector of the economy, hence the critical importance of the profession, said “No nation can rise above the level of its engineering.”
“Low professional fees and inadequate remuneration for engineers in Nigeria have contributed significantly to the erosion of engineering standards, brain drain, ethical breaches and substandard infrastructure. Each field of engineering experiences unique challenges stemming from this under-valuation,” he said.
According to him, the adverse effect of poor remuneration of engineering services cannot be overstressed, as it is being felt in all sectors of the country’s economy.
He noted that the last updated COREN Scale of Fees in 2014 is currently outdated and does not reflect economic realities.
He illustrated the consequences across sectors with relevant examples. As for Civil/Structural Engineering, he cited
use of substandard materials due to cost-cutting by consultants; design shortcuts leading to structural failures; poor supervision of construction projects as some of the ills.
“Numerous building collapses in Lagos and Abuja have been linked to inadequate structural design and lack of adequate supervision—partly due to poor fees that limit professional engagement time,” the former deputy governor of Osun State noted.
Over 60 percent of top-performing engineering graduates migrate abroad within five years due to poor local remuneration, he said.
Therefore, Omisore recommended the immediate overhaul of COREN’s remuneration scale to reflect discipline-specific realities; enforcement of minimum professional fees across private and public sectors; mandatory inclusion of licensed professionals in procurement and technical review processes.
On his part, Ogun State Deputy Governor, Engr Noimot Salako-Oyedele, who spoke on the need for alliances and expansion of Engineering Regulations and Monitoring, ERM, for compliance,
said, “Compliance is a shared responsibility, it is shared between regulators, professionals, government and the society.”
He urged state governments, who according to her, have been missing
in action in terms of engineering monitoring, to embrace the ERM so as to be able to enforce compliance.
Speaking in the same vein, the Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, pointed out lapses in the enforcement of professional development and licensing regulations in the engineering sector.
According to Sule, such deficiencies threaten public safety, infrastructure integrity and the country’s socio-economic growth.
Represented by the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nasarawa State Urban Development Agency, NUDA, Engr Wada Mohammed, the governor noted that many foundational practices such as student indexing, structured internships and Continuous Professional Development, CPD, are either partially enforced or completely neglected.
He called for urgent and sustained enforcement of CPD and licensing regulations as critical steps toward building a competent, ethical and globally recognised engineering workforce.
