Origin of Engineering Education and Practice in Nigeria

Engineering practice was formally introduced into Nigeria in the nineteenth century in which
some of the engineering activities includes development of infrastructure – public buildings, roads,
telegraphy and the railways. The first step towards professional engineering training and practice was
taken when the Higher College, Yaba, was established. Up until the end of the first half of the twentieth
century, only a few Nigerians had acquired full professional engineering status. These few obtained their
basic engineering qualification and replica watches in the United Kingdom training abroad. It was only
during the 1960’s that the first professionally qualified engineers were produced locally. By mid 1980’s
about 40 Nigerian universities and polytechnics were training medium and high-level technical
manpower.

Raphael Adeola Alabi OON, Fellow of NSE (1941–2009) was the first Nigerian engineer and
industrialist. He hailed from the City of Akure, Ondo State, and he was the first indigenous engineer in
postcolonial Nigeria to become a 'Chief Engineer' at Guinness, Nigeria. Altogether he spent 45 years at
Guinness, including 13 years as the chairman.

Ralph was born to a traditional Akure family, and was, as documented in his book, related to the
royal Adesida Family of Akure. He lived with his great-grandmother, Eyelori (Queen) Faromibi Adesida,
one of the wives of Oba Afunbiowo Adeside (former Deji of Akure), until he was 16 years of age. Ralph
began his career in Guinness Nigeria Plc as a Technical Trainee in 1964 and rose through the ranks to
become the Chairman of Guinness Nigeria Plc. He was also very active in other professional circles, and
later founded his own engineering consultancy company.

Having earlier earned a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical College, Ibadan
(now Ibadan Polytechnic), where he graduated as the best engineering student,[13] he was employed by
Guinness as a 'Trainee' and rose through the ranks to become the first Nigerian Chief Engineer in 1979.
He was subsequently Executive Director in 1986, marketing director 1988 and was managing director
Chief Executive, and vice-chairman between 1994 and 1996. Ralph Alabi's journey at Guinness ended
with him spending up to 13 years as the chairman (Non-Executive) in 2009

After primary school in 1956, Ralph Alabi attended St. Joseph's College, Ondo (1957–1961), where he
received a scholarship from the Akure District Council. After receiving an ordinary diploma in mechanical
engineering at the technical college, Ibadan (now Ibadan Polytechnic) and the City and Guild of London
Certificate, Ralph enrolled at the Hendon College of Technology in London (now Middlesex University)
on a Guinness scholarship on an HND programme, but was later transferred to a degree class due to
high performance.He subsequently graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical
Engineering.

After an illustrious career with Guinness, Ralph Alabi decided to set an engineering consultancy
business – a company christened Maystar Brothers Ltd. In the seventh chapter of his second publication
(Second Diamond Chronicle, 2001). Ralph Alabi was a member of several business and professional
organisations such as COREN. The Federal University of Technology of Akure on 11 December 2005,
conferred on him the award of doctorate degree (Honoris Causa) Doctor of Engineering. He was a
National Vice-Chairman of Science, Engineering and Technology Summit of the Federal Ministry of
Science and Technology. He was also a member of the Governing Council of Lagos State Polytechnic.
 In the development of engineering profession in Nigeria, regulation has been carried out by the
professionals themselves, through learned societies and a statutory registration and regulatory body.
The latter, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) was set up by law in 1970
and is currently made up entirely of technical professionals. The umbrella learned society, the Nigeria
Society of Engineers (NSE), was founded in 1958. The Nigerian society of engineers can be said to have
up to about 49,556 members as of now.

The Nigerian Academy of Engineering was inspired by the need for a small, focused engineering
body that would have the narrower objectives of the advancement and pursuit of excellence in
Technology and Engineering, and the provision of a national platform for experts to pool their
experience and insights and make input into public and private technical policy. This idea was
encouraged by other countries academics activities.

Let us examine some states in Nigeria and the engineering practice taken by some of their
universities . lets take at engineering practices in Nigerian Universities and some of the problems of
Nigerian universities by a member of the university of Ibadan who is known as MR Sunday Adesogan

It is a general opinion that the establishment of a department

of engineering services in the University system in a developed

country will not have the same importance that it would have

in a developing country because there are more than enough

contracting establishments that could be depended upon to tackle

most of the works aspects of the services, so that the engineering

services will be mainly concerned with maintenance and repairs

of the utility services of the University. In developing countries,

however, the engineering services department has to tackle a lot

more than is expected of its counterpart in developed countries.

You will therefore forgive me if I treat the subject as if it reads

“The future of engineering services in the University system in

Nigeria – even though I am aware that the condition or situation

that obtains in Nigeria is equally applicable to Universities in

other developing countries. The Physical plant of a University

in developed countries has been described as consisting of

Administration buildings, Libraries, Laboratories, Lecture Halls,

some residential and recreative facilities, an auditorium, a

gymnasium, a hospital and an institute for advanced study and

research. This description also fits universities in developing

countries; but to this must be added, the provision of living

accommodation for all academic staff and for all or most of the

students, and a good number of senior and junior Administrative

staff, the construction and maintenance of roads, the provision

of water, electricity, refuse collection and disposal, sewage

system, telephone and transport. In fact the University campus

in a developing country is a small town of anything up to some

50,000 people. In University of Ibadan with a student population

of about 30,000, the campus population is between 45,000 and

50,000. Consequently, the engineering services to be provided

are like that for a small township with that size of population and

in order that these services may be adequately and satisfactorily

provided a works, maintenance and transport Department must

be established.

The head of such a department, a properly qualified

professional engineer is required as he will not only see to the

efficient running of the department, he will also have to deal with

other engineering consultants when capital works are concerned.

A copious example is, when I was appointed to the post of

Assistant Director of works in Bowen University, Iwo Osun State

of Nigeria, one of the first jobs I tackle was the tarring of the main

road that lead to the University. On my arrival, the work had been

done by a contractor but no sooner was the job complete than

the tarred surface started to disintegrate. I could see immediately

that the road was badly constructed as no specification was given

to the contractor who was essentially a building contractor. I had

to get the contractor to strip the road surface and rebuild it to a

specification which I gave him. Luckily, the contractor was anxious

 to retain the goodwill of the University; he therefore accepted

my decision without any argument even though the work had

been accepted as completed by the technicians who were in

charge before my appointment. Corruption in the construction

of public infrastructure has particularly serious implicationsfor developing countries [1]. “More
than any other department

in the university, with the possible exception of the registrar’s

department, the maintenance Department is in constant touch

with the lives of staff and students alike. Every new member of

staff from the time he sets foot on the campus feels the need to

approach the Maintenance Department for his requirements

which can be anything from a nail or a screw to a car”. There is

no end to what you are required to do. You are even called upon

to replace blown electric fuses in power plugs. I used to say that

members of staff come to the department to ask that their request

be carried out yesterday – such used to be their insistence on

immediate attention at the time. If you do not leave everything

you are doing and attend to the request of some members of staff

you became a persona non grata and they hit back at you by saying

uncomplimentary things about your department.

The future of engineering services in the University Systems

in this country will depend on the importance that the country

placed on its engineers. Time and again it would appear as if

Nigeria believes that it could do without the engineers. Therefore

the future of engineering services in the University system will

naturally depend on the future of engineering services in the

country and incidentally the future of the engineering profession.

Day after day our Government continues to pay lip service to the

recognition of technology as a sine qua non to our development.

New Institutes of Technology are springing up all over the place

more as a political expediency than as a real desire to provide

technological knowledge to the youths of this country. Like every

other aspect of our Higher learning we establish these institutions

and failed to either staff them adequately both with regard to

number and quantity of neither staff, nor are they properly

equipped for the discipline they are establish to impart. The

available funds is spread thinly over a proliferation of institutes

of higher learning, rather than consolidate well established ones

which naturally require more funds for their existence in the

present circumstances of economic depression in the country.

The result is that the products have not the real foundation on

which to build experience. The hysterical cry of our legislators

and the information media that our Universities should undertake

revenue generating projects is a futile effort to place the blame for

shortage of funds on the Universities themselves. No University

in this country can undertake revenue that will produce the

kind revenue that will make for any appreciable reduction in the

subvention which the Government must make for the successful

existence of these institutions of higher learning. Universities and

Polytechnic have become status symbols for our states in this

country and therefore their establishments are highly politicized,

and the students are the pawns on the chessboard of politicized

education. I hope we will not get to the stage where Government

will only recognize the degrees obtained in their own university

in preference to all others or that degrees will be awarded by the

quota system in our universities. Engineering practices outside

the University, receives no less disrespect than their colleagues

in practice outside. A focus group discussion and interview with

 contractors and consultants reveals that engineering practice and

development in developing countries are still crude. Let us take a

cursory look of engineering practices in Nigeria for the past thirty

years.

Origin of engineering practice in Africa

Engineering education refers to the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional
practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any
advanced education and specializations that follow. Engineering education is typically accompanied by
additional postgraduate examinations and supervised training as the requirements for a professional
engineering license. The length of education, and training to qualify as a basic professional engineer, is
typically 8–12 years, with 15–20 years for an engineer who takes responsibility for major projects.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in primary and secondary schools
often serves as the foundation for engineering education at the university level. In the United States,
engineering education is a part of the STEM initiative in public schools. Service-learning in engineering
education is gaining popularity within the variety of disciplinary focuses within engineering education
including chemical engineering, Civil engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering,
computer engineering, electrical engineering, architectural engineering, and other engineering
education.

Here are some of the countries in Africa and how their engineering practice commenced

1. Egypt

The long history of Egypt is marked by a number of engineering achievements which gave it

a well deserved reputation of a nation of great builders.

Foremost among these achievements is the construction of the first stone building in the

history of mankind, the stepped pyramid of Sakkara which is associated with the name of its

architect Imhoteb, the eminent figure of engineering and medicine deified by the ancient

Egyptians and revered by the Greeks for centuries.

Another example of engineering achievements is the construction of the Giza pyramids which

required not only a mastery of many sciences and technologies such as geometry, cosmology,

architecture … etc but also the management of a work force consisting of tens of thousands of

workers that had to be housed fed and medically treated on the construction site.

The list of engineering achievements is large and encompasses all the civilizations that

flourished in the Nile Valley. It includes the temples of Karnak and Abu Simbel, the Pharos of

Alexandria and the mosque and madrassa of Sultan Hassan among others.

This history is also associated with the creation of the first forms of "universities" as centers

for the generation, conservation and transmission of knowledge. Oun (3000BC) best, known

as Heliopolis, was the first center of its kind and was the mecca of Greek philosophers,

scientists and historians. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its Museum (300BC) brought
together the scientists and philosophers from all parts of the Mediterranean and preserved the

knowledge of all the major civilizations along its shores. The University of Al Azhar (10th

century AD) was and remains the major that flourished theological center of the Moslem

world.

II Origins of Modern Engineering Education in Egypt

Modern engineering education in Egypt started in the aftermath of the cultural shock

provoked by the French Expedition lead by Napoleon Bonaparte which occupied Egypt from

1798 to 1801. It was a fundamental component of the policy of Mohamed Aly, the founder of

Egypt's Royal Dynasty, to modernize Egypt and integrate it in the international economy.

Engineers were needed to take in charge the large infrastructure projects (specially in the field

of irrigation) and the new industries required by the new modern state. The first school of Engineering
dates back to 1816 and was located in Saladin's Citadel. It was

followed by a regular school in Bulak (Cairo). In 1858, two new engineering schools were

created. The first, dedicated to irrigation was located at the Delta "Barrage" north of Cairo.

The second, specializing in architecture was housed in the Citadel. They were replaced again

in 1866 by a single school for both disciplines and moved to Abbasia, then a new suburb east

of Cairo. In 1886, the Ministry of Education and the "Ministry of Public Works" established

new by-laws for the school and imposed a 5 year curriculum.

The Royal School of Engineering was created in 1902. It moved in 1905 to its new location in

the buildings occupied presently by the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. In 1916 five

departments were created : Irrigation, Architecture, Public Works, Mechanical and Electrical

Engineering. In the following two decades, the Royal School of Engineering witnessed a large

development in its facilities, staff and students.

In 1935, it joined Cairo University, (Found 1st University at the time) to become the Faculty

of Engineering. It remained the sole Faculty of Engineering until the creation of the Faculty of

Engineering of Alexandria University in 1942, followed by that of Ain Shams University in

1950 and that of Assiout University in 1957. Presently there are 19 engineering faculties

belonging to state universities and 9 faculties belonging to private universities in addition to a

large number of high technical institute.

Conclusion

Engineering education in Egypt is almost two centuries old. Over this period it was exposed

to a variety of influences and adopted different models. Egyptian engineering educational

institutions not only were the first in the region but also contributed to the creation of

engineering schools all over the Arab World and contribute almost 25% of its staff to teach in

them. The engineering community in Egypt is by far the largest in the region and participated

over several decades in the implementation all types of engineering projects in it.

The engineering community is challenged to modernize and expand its educational and

research institutions in order to respond with a quality education to rising student

demographics, to a more demanding job market and to an ever increasing international

competition. I am sure that the Egyptian engineering community will live up to this challenge

2.Kenya

Engineering training in Kenya is typically provided by the universities. Registration of engineers is

governed by the Engineers Registration Act. A candidate stands to qualify as a registered engineer,
R.Eng., if he/she is a holder of a minimum four years post-secondary Engineering Education and a
minimum of three years of postgraduate work experience.

All registrations are undertaken by the Engineers Registration Board which is a statutory body
established through an Act of the Kenyan Parliament in 1969. A minor revision was done in 1992 to
accommodate Technician Engineer grade. The board has been given the responsibility of regulating the
activities and conduct of Practicing Engineers in the Republic of Kenya in accordance with the functions
and powers conferred upon it by the Act. Under CAP 530 of the Laws of Kenya, it is illegal for an
engineer to practice or call himself an engineer if not registered with the board. Registration with the
board is thus a license to practice engineering in Kenya.

3. South Africa

Engineering training in South Africa is typically provided by the universities, universities of technology
and colleges for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (previously Further Education and
Training). The qualifications provided by these institutions must have an Engineering Council of South
Africa (ECSA) accreditation for the qualification for graduates and diplomats of these institutions to be
registered as Candidate Certificated Engineers, Candidate Engineers, Candidate Engineering
Technologists and Candidate Engineering Technicians.

The academic training performed by the universities is typically in the form of a four-year BSc(Eng), BIng
or BEng degree. For the degree to be accredited, the course material must conform to the ECSA
Graduate Attributes (GA).

Professional Engineers (Pr Eng) are persons that are accredited by ECSA as engineering professionals.
Legally, a Professional Engineer's sign off is required for any major project to be implemented, in order
to ensure the safety and standards of the project. Professional Engineering Technologists (Pr Tech Eng)
and Professional Engineering Technicians (Pr Techni Eng) are other members of the engineering team.

Professional Certificated Engineers (Pr Cert Eng) are people who hold one of seven Government
Certificates of Competency and who have been registered by ECSA as engineering professionals.

The categories of professionals are differentiated by the degree of complexity of work carried out,
where Professional Engineers are expected to solve complex engineering problems, Professional
Engineering Technologists and Professional Certificated Engineers, broadly defined engineering
problems and Professional Engineering Technicians, well-defined engineering problems.

Bruce Kloot is a Senior Academic Development Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical

Engineering at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is a member of the Centre for

Research in Engineering and Science Education (CREE, http://www.cree.uct.ac.za/) as well as

the international Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN). He has authored various

publications in higher and engineering education and his research is influenced by the work of

the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.

Siegfried Rouvrais is an Associate Professor in Software Engineering, Computer Science

Department, at Institut Mines Telecom Bretagne, France. Dr Rouvrais is a member of the

French Transdisciplinary Research group in Engineering Education (TREE,

http://recherche.telecom-bretagne.eu/tree). Author of various publications in Engineering

Education, his current scholarly interests are in higher education quality enhancement and

models and processes for curriculum design and transformation

4.Tanzania
Engineering training in Tanzania is typically provided by various universities and technical
institutions in the country. Graduate engineers are registered by the Engineers Registration Board
(ERB) after undergoing three years of practical training. A candidate stands to qualify as a
professional engineer, P.Eng., if he/she is a holder of a minimum four years post-secondary
Engineering Education and a minimum of three years of postgraduate work experience. Engineers
Registration Board is a statutory body established through an Act of the Tanzanian Parliament in
1968. Minor revision was done in 1997 to address the issue of engineering professional excellence
in the country.
The board has been given the responsibility of regulating the activities and conduct of Practicing
Engineers in the United Republic of Tanzania in accordance with the functions and powers conferred
upon it by the Act. According to Tanzania Laws, it is illegal for an engineer to practice or call himself
an engineer if not registered with the board. Registration with the board is thus a license to practice
engineering in the united public of Tanzania.
We have thus seen different countries and their engineering practice in Africa.