The president, Council of the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engr. Ali Rabiu, has called on engineers to uphold the code of ethics of engineering to steer the profession away from negative perception.
He was speaking as guest lecturer at the 2021 engineering week and AGM organised by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, where he urged engineers to uphold moral steps while carrying out their duties.
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“Engineering has code of ethics and we have to abide by those codes. If you are a practitioner and are found wanting we take measures. We ensure that our practitioners do not unnecessarily commit infractions and were they do, we punish them,” he said.
One of the challenges facing the profession, he said, is that the council lacked the necessary manpower to drive its programmes due to the embargo on recruitment by the federal government.
While also lamenting the activities of quacks in the profession, he said the agency has prosecuted some of its members for untoward practices in the profession.
He reiterated that in line with the amended COREN Act, 2018, the council would prosecute quacks responsible for building collapse in the country.
On his part, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, called for paradigm shift and actions to create awareness on the role of engineering regulation and the needed for ethical behaviour in engineering practices and activities in the country.
He added that there must be strict enforcement to ensure that professionals and engineering organisations whose practices do not conform to laid down regulations are cautioned.