COREN urges reinstatement of subvention to professional bodies

Disturbed by the recent disclosure by the Federal government to stop funding of professional bodies from next year, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has urged the government to rescind the decision to enable it to carry out constitutional roles and responsibilities.

President of the Council, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, made the appeal at the 31st Engineering Assembly entitled: “Entrenching and Strengthening Engineering Practitioners Code of Conduct for Resilient Engineering Practice in Nigeria” in Abuja.

Abubakar noted that the council is not a professional association but a regulatory agency, rendering government functions to protect the general public through registration and licensing of engineers, consulting firms and engineering firms, hence, the need to retain the funding policy to effectively perform the responsibilities.

The Federal Government had announced plans to exempt the council and others from the funding policy of professional and regulatory bodies in the country from January 2024.

COREN said the body should be exempted from such a policy because of the work it is rendering to Nigerian society. “Let me also stress the fact that the need for engineering regulation is driven by the wish to protect people and society at large from the danger associated with engineering failure.

“COREN was therefore inaugurated to ensure the highest standards of professionalism in engineering practice in Nigeria and the elimination of quacks. The Council avoids unnecessary competition among practitioners and prevents them from taking advantage of the people in illegal ways or through unfair deals.

“Since quality-engineering practice is germane to the country’s quest for development and for the avoidance of the risk associated with engineering failure occurrences, the attendant loss of lives and economic waste. The council wishes to state that it should be exempted from the Federal Government’s no-funding directive. As this is the situation in other climes, including developed countries,” Abubakar said.

Also speaking on the issue, Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, urged the council to accept the policy as an opportunity to be innovative and stamp its authority in providing engineering solutions to the infrastructural deficits faced in the country. The governor said the policy should be viewed as a way to generate more revenue and provide engineering solutions, rather than rely on the government’s diminishing resources.