By Angela Atabo
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has commended ongoing reforms in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), describing them as vital for equipping graduates with practical skills and professional exposure.
COREN President, Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja during a news conference ahead of the council’s 34th Assembly scheduled for July 13 to July 15.
He said the reforms is a major step towards producing competent and globally competitive graduates through practical training, mentoring and industry exposure.
Abubakar added that the reforms align with COREN’s long-standing advocacy for stronger mentoring, industrial attachment, residency programmes and structured NYSC engagements to prepare engineering graduates for leadership roles.
He expressed satisfaction that the revamped NYSC scheme addressed concerns consistently raised by the council over the past two decades.
“I am happy to note that the NYSC scheme has been repackaged and it has responded to some of our calls for the last 20 years.
“The NYSC needs to be repackaged to ensure that we have specific hands-on mentoring of our young graduates that will take over the mantle of leadership and management of the country in the future,” he said.
He said COREN fully supports the reforms, especially thematic areas enabling engineering graduates from universities and polytechnics to contribute meaningfully to national development.
Abubakar said the reforms would bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry expectations while strengthening engineering education, professional competence and regulatory effectiveness.
He also disclosed that COREN had secured endorsement from the National Universities Commission (NUC) and approval from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to enforce engineering admission quotas.
According to him, the policy places engineering alongside regulated professions such as medicine, law and pharmacy, where admission numbers are controlled to maintain quality standards.
“What this means is that the engineering profession has come to the level of the medical profession, the legal profession, the pharmaceutical profession and the likes,” he said.
He explained that controlled admissions would improve training quality, strengthen practical competencies and produce graduates capable of competing locally and internationally.
“We are trying to ensure that there is quality training regime at the university level so that we have competent graduates with more robust hands-on competencies to be able to practise, not only in Nigeria but globally,” he stated.
Abubakar described the policy as a turning point that would boost global recognition and mobility for Nigerian engineers, technologists and technicians.
He also announced the reintroduction of graduate indexing, oath-taking and the mandatory one-year Engineering Residency Programme before NYSC deployment, alongside partnerships to expand industry-based residency opportunities.
Abubakar said COREN has developed a harmonised continuing professional development framework, trained 868 programme implementers and 839 evaluators.
He said the Council remains committed to producing globally competitive engineering professionals.(NAN)
What do you think about this?
Drop your opinion in the comment section.
FOLLOW US & Share this with someone who needs to see this.
