The President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Professor Sadiq Abubakar, has disclosed that Nigeria has begun the process of aligning its engineering standards with international best practices by seeking admission into the Sydney Accord—a move that will bring Nigerian engineers at par with their global counterparts.
Professor Abubakar made this known on Tuesday during the North-East Regional Stakeholders Summit of the Council held in Gombe State.
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that the summit brought together engineers, technologists, and technicians from across the North-East region to deliberate on enhancing professional standards, ethical compliance, and safety in engineering practice across Nigeria.
According to him, South Africa currently remains the only African country admitted into all three global engineering accords — the Washington, Sydney, and Dublin Accords, which represent the highest benchmarks for engineering, technologist, and technician qualifications across Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific.
“We can’t continue to watch. South Africa is the only country that has been admitted into the three accords — Asian, American, and Pacific. South Africans are going there to work, to do anything as technicians or technologists,” he said.
“Nigeria is following that pathway. Just three weeks ago, we announced our intention and made submissions for the Sydney Accord. We have committed ourselves to this. We need to change the narration. I believe the engineering profession will change for good.”
Abubakar emphasised that Nigerian engineers are highly skilled and globally competitive but lack formal international recognition due to the country’s delayed alignment with global accreditation frameworks.
“An engineer is an engineer, we must maintain the standard,” he noted. “It has been acclaimed that Nigerian professionals are available and, when it comes to practical skills, we are among the best. But we have not formalised it. For an excellent talent who goes abroad, nobody will give him an opportunity because we have abandoned the global processes.”
He revealed that COREN’s efforts toward international recognition began a decade ago.
“COREN started this journey ten years ago. We are now a provisional member of the Washington Accord. We are the second in Africa, aside from South Africa,” he said.
Abubakar urged stakeholders in the North-East region to engage actively with the Council’s zonal office in Gombe to help identify gaps and strengthen professional practice.
“Engage the regional body, give us feedback. If you see a gap, if you see something, say something — for us to properly package our profession for our country and beyond,” he appealed.
Speaking on the persistent issue of building collapse in Nigeria, the COREN President identified multiple causes, including poor soil testing, faulty design approvals, and the use of substandard materials.
“One of the reasons for building collapse is high-rise structures; the second is failure to characterise the soil, the design, the approvals, and the use of inferior or substandard materials. If these can be tackled, building collapse will be less,” Abubakar said.
