By Ben Akpan
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has announced the introduction of a compulsory one-year post-graduation engineering residency programme for all graduates of engineering from universities and polytechnics across the country.
The President of the Council, Sadiq Abubakar, made this known in Abuja, the country’s Capital Territory on July 7, 2025 at a press briefing ahead of the 33rd Engineering Assembly scheduled to hold between July 15 and 17, 2025.
The President stressed that the residency programme had been in vogue last, but was unfortunately distorted owing to various inevitable challenges such as funding, among others.
Themed “Advancing Quality Engineering Services and Businesses in Nigeria, Professional Compliance and Remuneration,” the annual assembly will reportedly bring together millions of practitioners, including engineers, technologists, technicians, craftsmen, and artisans, to deliberate on pressing issues within the profession.
Abubakar said the reintroduced programme, initially known as the Supervised Industrial Training Scheme in Engineering, will now run as the "Engineering Residency Programme" to build practical competence among engineering graduates before their mandatory National Youth Service Corps year.
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According to the boss, the post-graduation pathway aligns with international standards, forming part of Nigeria’s Mutual Recognition Agreement under the International Engineering Alliance.
It's noteworthy that Nigeria joined the Washington Accord as a provisional signatory in 2023, making it the second African nation to achieve that status.
He also remarked that the mandatory programme was in line with the standard practice in other regulated professions such as law, medicine, and pharmacy.
Abubakar said, “In response to the federal government, the current Federal Government administration’s aspiration to be able to develop hands-on experience for our youth in this country, COREN is resuscitating what we started about 40 years ago, the supervised industrial engineering training scheme, what we call CITSE.
"We have repackaged it and we now give it a new name, called the Engineering Residency Programme. COREN is happy to inform everybody in this country that our graduates with degrees and HNDs from universities and polytechnics will soon align with the global practice.
“After graduation, our engineering graduates will now have to undergo mandatory one-year residency in their area of specialisation to be able to develop the competence, the proficiency and the hands-on experience that will qualify them after graduation and certification from the residency to go for NYSC one year again in the relevant area of their speciality and competence.
“These two years of residency and NYSC probably posting in engineering organizations will amount to part of the qualification for any engineer with a degree qualification or HND qualification to be able to register with COREN as an engineer or as a technologist and certified so that they can practise anywhere in this world and they can be regulated under any jurisdiction whether in Nigeria or any part of the globe.
This is what COREN has already signed in what we call MRA, mutual recognition agreement with our jurisdiction in Europe, in Asia, in the Americas, under the International Engineering Alliance.”
He added that the Council was working with government stakeholders to provide a monthly stipend of N75,000 for each graduate, with a task force already inaugurated to develop a sustainable funding structure.
“The engineering residency program is one year. It’s going to be mandatory but it is not new to engineering. I am sure you know it has been done in the medical field, it has been done in the legal field, and it has been done in the pharmaceutical field. We started it years ago, but our challenge was lack of funding.
He disclosed that a high-profile Task Force would be inaugurated in earnest to see towards the implementation and funding of the re-introduced programme.
“Our aim is to ensure Nigerian-trained engineers can compete and practise globally. We are very confident that we will succeed in this and change the narrative. We have signed recognition agreements with jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, and the Americas,” Abubakar noted.
