Seek review of curriculum in line with industrial reality
Towards reducing the exodus of manpower in the engineering industry, professionals, under the aegis of the Nigerian lnstitution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE), have called for more professional development and capacity-building opportunities to upskill younger/established engineers and ensure that they remain competitive in the manufacturing industry.

The body also said that its plan to train over 5,000 engineers would help the country to bridge the skills’ gap and ‘japa’ syndrome among practitioners.

National Chairman of the institution, Olufunmilade Akingbagbohun, who spoke, at the weekend, during a fellowship conferment on 25 new fellows/distinguished lecture, said that NIMechE had taken a bold step towards fulfilling its mandate by collaborating with selected institutions to deliver world class programmes for members through the establishment of a training academy.

Akingbagbohun said the project targets to train over 5,000 young engineers for the labour market, saying that it has been conceived as a means to empower them.

Also, the Guest Speaker/Chief Executive Officer, KOA Consultants Limited, Kunle Ogunbayo, urged the nation not to allow itself to be railroaded into taking actions that do not align with the national interests and must not take the problems caused by others.

He urged engineers to provide leadership in equipment designs and at the same use methods that are not against the national interests.

Ogunbayo, who was President of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Nigeria (ACEN), said Nigerians must understand that an Al system is a tool and not an end in itself and must not allow Artificial Intelligence to become Artificial Stupidity.

President of College of Fellows, NlMechE, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ashiru, said the conferees are proven leaders in the engineering practice, adding that the process of selecting them was rigorous as out of many that applied, only few were taken. He said their induction was a demonstration of promotion of engineering practice and improving the manpower needed continuously to grow technical expertise and be abreast of technological development.

He encouraged practitioners to be more refined in both hard and soft skills and make moves to contribute towards the development of the society and the economy at large.