In a powerful call to action, new engineering graduates from Igbinedion University Okada, have been formally inducted and charged to become Nigeria’s frontline problem-solvers, tasked with tackling insecurity and economic stagnation through innovation and ethical leadership.
The historic maiden induction ceremony, held yesterday, saw 61 graduates from Chemical, Computer, Civil, Electrical/Electronic, Mechanical, and Petroleum Engineering programmes take their professional oaths, officially entering the fold of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
Setting the tone, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Lawrence Ikechukwu Ezemonye, declared the event a “strategic national occasion.” He reframed the graduates’ rigorous training in thermodynamics and circuit design as the essential toolkit to “fix a nation in need.” “You are not just becoming engineers; you are becoming custodians of Nigeria’s future,” he stated, urging them to approach every project by asking: “How does this solve a Nigerian problem?”
The President of COREN, Engr. Prof. Sadiq Z. Abubakar, represented by Engr. Prof. Sunny Onohaebi, outlined the stringent, multi-step pathway from graduation to licensed practice. This includes mandatory one-year internships, National Youth Service Corps postings in engineering-based organisations, and continuous professional development. He emphasised COREN’s commitment to upholding the Washington Accord benchmarks to ensure Nigerian engineers are globally competitive. “The question is, how skilful and competent are these pupil engineers?” the COREN president’s address probed, underscoring the regulatory body’s role in transitioning graduates from academia into certified, solution-ready professionals.
The guest speaker, Engr. Dr. Solomon Enoghase Emhonbotiti, delivering a lecture titled “The Strategic Roles of Engineers in Advancing National Development,” painted a stark picture of the national landscape. He identified insecurity, economic volatility, and chronic energy deficits as critical obstacles that also present unique opportunities for engineers. “Nations are not built by wishes—they are built by Engineers,” Dr. Emhonbotiti asserted. He expanded the traditional role of engineers, charging them to be builders of resilient infrastructure, innovators against insecurity using technology, drivers of economic stability, and champions of energy security to break the nation’s power bottleneck.
The collective charge to the Class of 2024/2025 was clear: be entrepreneurial, collaborate across disciplines, uphold unshakeable ethics, and commit to lifelong learning. The Dean of the College of Engineering, Prof. Rowland Ugochukwu Azike, noted that 16 of the inductees graduated with First-Class honours, including the university’s overall best graduating student.
