UniAbuja, UniCal, Others Running Unaccredited Engineering Programmes, COREN Warns Parents

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria has said engineering programmes at the University of Abuja, Modibbo Adama University, Yola and Ambrose Alli University, Edo State, were unaccredited and the institutions unfit to produce engineering graduates.

The council also warned parents and guardians of prospective students that all engineering courses at the University of Calabar and the Technical University, Ibadan, were illegally implemented without resource verification, pre-accreditation and approval from the regulatory body.

Speaking at a press conference on the outcome of the council’s 179th ordinary meeting on Friday in Abuja, the Registrar of the council, Ademola Adisa, said the five universities refused to update their licences for various engineering courses since 2020, resulting in the withdrawal of accreditation and non-recognition of their graduates as engineers.

He said the University of Abuja was running chemical engineering and civil engineering accreditation whose accreditation expired on 26/03/2020, while electronic engineering and mechanical engineering accreditation expired on 20/04/2022.

According to him, Modibbo Adama University’s agricultural engineering failed accreditation, while civil engineering, elect/elect engineering expired on 11/10/2020.

The registrar added that the chemical engineering and mechanical engineering both expired on 10/03/2021.

He also said the University of Calabar in Cross River State and Technical University Ibadan, Oyo State, were running illegal engineering programmes that were not accredited by COREN.

The registrar, who spoke on behalf of the council President, Sadiq Abubakar, stated: “The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria in its commitment towards ensuring that engineering is regulated in Nigeria in line with global best practice to improve the quality of life and promote sustainable development, is hereby notifying the general public that the following universities are running engineering programmes with expired accreditation status:

“At Modibbo Adama University located in Yola, Adamawa State, agricultural engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering and mechanical engineering have been run with failed and expired accreditation status since October 2020.

“Also, at the University of Abuja, the accreditation of courses such as chemical engineering, civil engineering, electronics engineering, and mechanical engineering expired two years ago and no effort has been made to renew the licenses.

“Additionally, the University of Calabar and Technical University, Ibadan, Oyo State are running engineering programmes up to 300 level and 500 level respectively without resource verification and approval by COREN.”

Ademola noted that the universities had been notified officially to rectify the abnormalities, adding that failure to rectify their non-accreditation status would result in blacklisting them and graduates of their engineering programmes would not be recognised for registration as engineering practitioners.

The registrar explained that as a provisional signatory to the Washington Accord, the council must ensure quality assurance through the proper accreditation of engineering programmes in all tertiary institutions and maintain a register of qualified engineers to improve the quality of life and promote sustainable development in the country.

He added: “All five universities have been written officially to call for accreditation of their programmes which are currently illegal and they need to rectify the abnormalities but there had not been any positive response from any of them.”

The registrar reminded all engineering practitioners to obtain their annual licenses for 2023 in compliance with Nigerian laws governing engineering practices or face sanctions.