Nasarawa state governor, Umaru Tanko Almakura, gave the charge at the 26th Engineering Assembly of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) ongoing at the international Conference Centre, Abuja.
Almakura also tasked the body on the need to evolve a more attractive condition of service in order to avoid capital flight and forestall flight of indigenous engineers to seek better working conditions more advanced countries.
Lamenting the incessant cases of building collapse in the country with its attendant negative consequences, Governor Almakura questioned where the problem of engineering regulation in Nigeria lies.
“Is the problem bedeviling the Engineering sector that of Inefficiency? Is it lack of Expertise? Is it a question of Integrity, resulting from unethical practices by the Professionals? What is the role of the COREN in curtailing the recurrent collapse of buildings, roads, bridges and high-tension lines across the country?” he queried.
The governor explained that: :”The only way to forestall capital flight, on the one hand, and to foreclose the flight of indigenous Engineers in search of greener pastures, on the other, is to develop a stringent regulatory framework and evolve more attractive conditions of service in order to retain Nigerian Engineers for diligent Engineering services”.
“This will go a long way in reducing Nigeria being a dumping ground for all kinds pseudo engineers as expatriate engineers in Nigeria, as well as address the critical challenges affecting the Engineering sector”.
He maintained that this will create multiplier effects as more economic opportunities such as employment generation will thrive in the sector and, by extension, boost our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“In consonance with Government policy focus, therefore, robust engineering activities will go a long way in addressing the deficient infrastructural facilities as a yardstick for flourishing manufacturing and industrial development in Nigeria”.
