The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Ahmed Dangiwa, has called for enhanced collaboration among engineering professionals to tackle the recurring issue of infrastructure failures in the country.
Dangiwa made the call during the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) 32nd Engineering Assembly with the theme: “Regulating Engineering Profession for Share Prosperity in Nigeria’ ’ in Abuja.
The minister said the call had become necessary in the face of incessant collapse of buildings and other infrastructures in Nigeria.
“This year’s event provides a unique opportunity to address the persistent challenges of engineering failures and also offers us an opportunity to reflect on the present realities which engineering must find solutions to.
“These successes can help to reposition the practice of engineering in Nigeria and unlock the immense potential of the profession as a vital contributor to the sustainable socio-economic and infrastructural development of our nation.
“The ministry appreciates the contribution of COREN in developing a checklist to provide verifiable complete documentation of the construction process that allows tracking of actions or inactions to establish culpability in building collapse in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Dangiwa disclosed that the housing ministry is poised to promote synergy, teamwork and encourage sharing of useful information, adding that the standards COREN sets and the professional ethics it enforces were critical to ensuring the quality, safety, and resilience of housing and infrastructure projects across the nation.
Also speaking, the President of COREN, Prof Sadiq Abubakar said that the council brought in professionals both internationally and locally to discuss the theme of the 32nd assembly to chart the way forward in regulating engineering for national development.
Abubakar  said that the 32nd assembly offered a unique opportunity to improve the efficacy of the regulatory framework, instruments for effective management of the engineering ecosystem and impactful results.
“In response to the call on COREN to rise to the occasion to check the incessant failures of engineering infrastructure, especially building collapse across the country, the Minister of Works David Umahi, will inaugurate a National Technical Committee.
“This is to drive the Engineering Regulations Monitoring Enforcement (ERME) at national level similar to existing practice at regional and state levels.
“The ERME inspectors are to be supported by the Engineering Intelligence & Surveillance (EIS) Task Force and EIS Whistle Blowers operating at national, regional and state levels.
“The required regulatory instruments needed to support the ERME, the ERME Inspectors, taskforce, whistle blower engineering infrastructures failures and forensic investigators are now ready for use,’’ he said.
Abubakar said that COREN was ever ready to improve its performance in regulating engineering education, training of practitioners and their practices in line with the global ethics and standards.
He said that this is to ensure the prevention of the failures of engineering infrastructure and to safeguard lives and Properties of the citizenry.
He, however, appealed to the Federal Government to continue to fund COREN similar to its peers in the funding regime for the benefit of the nation.
Also speaking, Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, said that Nigeria had challenges of infrastructure and it was high time engineers rose up to the occasion to make the necessary impact.
Sule said: “We have talked a lot and we have talked enough and we have gone through so many committees and summits.
“It is about time that at the end of this event we should at least make the necessary impact so Nigeria will know engineers have arrived.
“We do know about the various power challenges that we are facing in the country and I think we should pick one of those areas that we must take as engineers and proffer the solution.”
The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Megat Noor, Chairperson of the Dublin Accord and Governing Group International Engineering Alliance (IEA) and President Malaysian Society of Engineering and Technology, pointed out that engineering professionals make decisions that affect the public positively or negatively, insisting that engineers should endeavour to always make decisions that affect the public positively.
Noor said: “A regulated engineering profession became a solution to the ‘uncontrolled’ environment to ensure the consumer and public are well protected.
“Regulatory bodies built on ensuring those who qualified academically and exhibited professional competencies after going through supervised training to practice engineering works.
“Developing engineering human capital with adequate regulation is a prerequisite to building a nation’s energy sector and infrastructure thus allowing greater industrialisation and technological advancement, and consequently eliminating poverty towards shared prosperity.’’ (NAN)
