The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), has approved requests of 19 institutions for the accreditation of their engineering programmes in the country.

The President of COREN, Mr Kashim Ali, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on a high level accreditation visit by delegates from the Board of Engineers, Malaysia and Pakistan Engineering Council, on Thursday in Abuja.

Ali disclosed that two universities had been visited where 13 programmes were reviewed, saying that five programmes were granted full accreditation while eight programmes had interim accreditation.

He also said that the council visited six polytechnics and reviewed 16 programmes, adding that it also visited three foreign universities and reviewed 25 programmes while 22 programmes were granted full accreditation and three interim accreditation.

According to him, the institutions visited include Covenant University, Ota in Ogun State; Afe Babalola Unuversity, Ado-Ekiti; Near East University, Nicosia Cyprus; University of Kyrenia and European University of Lefke.

The president said that COREN joined the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) in 2016 to enable Nigerian Engineers to practise in 48 member countries.

He stated that Nigerian engineers could now practise in countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Pakistan and China, among others.

He said COREN was committed to the internationalisation of Nigerian engineering qualification to create mobility for Nigerian indigenous engineers and possible transfer of knowledge and technology.

“We have also applied to be member of the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) by being ignatory to the Washington Accord.

“Today’s meeting, therefore, hosted IEA delegation from Board of Engineers, Malaysia (BEM) and Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC).

“They are in Nigeria to observe COREN Typical Engineering Programme Accreditation procedure including approval by the Council.

“The delegation has already visited Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State and are scheduled to visit the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State on Friday.

“We strongly believe that at the end of the visitations, we would have demonstrated the strength of our engineering education and proven our capacity and suitability for the attainment of the Provisional Signatory Status to the Washington Accord.

“COREN, through this, will be able to forge intra and inter-regional cooperation for engineering accreditation and mobility of certified engineering personnel within Africa and between Africa and the World,’’ he said.

Ali commended the Federal Government for the promulgation of the Executive Order that gave clear preference to Nigerian companies, firms and indigenous professionals in project designs and execution.

He also disclosed that the council had reviewed the engineering regulation monitoring activities across the country for the third quarter including the report on the recent collapsed building in Jabi, Abuja.

COREN boss said that the recent earth tremor in Mpape and part of Maitama District in Abuja was something of concern because of the proximity of the location to the lower Usman Dam.

Contributing, Datuk Ahmad, the Chairman of Engineering Technology Accreditation Council, IEA, said that engineering in Nigeria had attained international recognition as a signatory to the Washington Accord.

Ahmad said that IEA members were certain that with the organisation and structure that Nigeria already possessed, it was in good position to meet standard requirements.

He urged the council to ensure that Nigerian engineering gets more international recognition in future beside being a signatory of IEA. (NAN)