UNILORIN Celebrates 607 Engineering Graduates at NSE-COREN Induction as Olamilekan Emerges FET Overall Best Graduating Student

UNILORIN Celebrates 607 Engineering Graduates at NSE-COREN Induction as Olamilekan Emerges FET Overall Best Graduating Student

The University of Ilorin Auditorium came alive on Thursday, October 15, 2026, as the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Ilorin Branch, in collaboration with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), inducted 607 graduating students from the 2025/2026 class of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology into the engineering profession.

The solemn joint ceremony marked the official entry of the young graduates into the engineering cadre as pupil engineers, providing them with professional identity and practical responsibilities.

Centered on the theme “Engineering Excellence, Professional Integrity and Service to Humanity,” the event brought together university leadership, national professional leaders, industry experts, and parents to celebrate the milestone. The induction featured

a robust series of speeches from key leaders, the administration of the official engineering oath, and the presentation of awards to outstanding departmental scholars.

In his address, the National President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engineer Ali Amimasuya Rabiu, emphasized the transformative role of engineering practice in shaping modern society. Represented by Engineer Sunday Thomas Abolarin, the NSE President noted that engineering directly affects the quality of human life through critical infrastructure such as roads, buildings, water treatment systems, electrical power networks, agricultural technologies, and telecommunication systems that collectively drive national economic development and overall societal growth.

Engineer Rabiu explained that the NSE serves a far broader function than merely functioning as an association that provides a professional identity for practitioners. He described the society as a dynamic, supportive platform dedicated to continuous knowledge sharing, professional development, technical mentorship, cross-industry networking, policy advocacy, and dedicated service to humanity. He encouraged the new inductees to actively leverage the NSE platform throughout their professional careers to maintain high competence standards and keep pace with global technological advances.

In his keynote address, telecommunications expert Engineer Oluwatoyin Asaju urged the inductees to place professional integrity and service at the forefront of their technical pursuits. He noted that technical knowledge without strong ethical grounding poses a danger to public safety and sustainable development, making professional integrity non-negotiable in everyday practice.

Asaju urged the fresh graduates to steadfastly uphold the ethical code of the engineering profession as they step into active practice. He tasked them with using their acquired technical skills and innovative capabilities to address the real-world socio-economic and infrastructural challenges currently facing communities across Nigeria and the broader African continent.

The Chairman of the NSE Ilorin Branch, Engr. Ahmed Kazeem-Jatto, addressed the gathering by reflecting on the core objective of the joint induction event. He explained that the ceremony was intentionally designed to prepare the graduating students for the real-world responsibilities, ethical demands, and high performance expectations that define professional practice.

Engr. Kazeem-Jatto charged the newly inducted engineers to view their formal admission into the profession as a calling to greater responsibility and selfless service. He reminded them that their work going forward must always align with public safety, professional accountability, and the broader mission of advancing human welfare through standard-compliant engineering solutions.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, SAN, congratulated the graduands on their successful academic completion.

Represented at the occasion by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Moji Taibat Bakare-Odunola, the VC commended the inductees for their perseverance, intellectual diligence, and discipline throughout their rigorous training in the faculty.

Professor Egbewole charged the 607 inductees to serve as good ambassadors of the University of Ilorin in all their future endeavors. He reminded them that the values of academic discipline, moral integrity, and character instilled in them during their time at the university must shine through in their professional conduct, technical choices, and public interactions.

Earlier in his welcome address, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Professor Joshua Olanrewaju-Olaoye, described the joint induction and oath-taking ceremony as a major historical milestone for the university. He commended the university's management under Vice-Chancellor Prof. Egbewole for providing consistent administrative support, which has fostered notable infrastructural growth and educational development within the faculty.

Olanrewaju charged the new engineers to step confidently into the industry with courage, professional pride, and genuine humility. He urged them to strictly maintain the foundational principles of honesty, financial and technical accountability, fairness, and uncompromising professional integrity as they build their respective engineering careers.

The President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engineer Professor Sadiq Z. Abubakar, FNSE, FAEng, ably represented by Engr. Kamila Malik Wopa, FNSE. Congratulated the Vice-Chancellor, academic staff, and students of the University of Ilorin, praising the institution's commitment to maintaining elevated educational standards.

Addressing the national landscape of engineering education, the COREN President noted that Nigeria currently hosts approximately 123 universities offering engineering education across more than 662 individual programs, capable of producing at least 15,000 engineering graduates annually. He raised fundamental questions regarding the skill levels, core practical competencies, and global compliance of these graduate engineers, introducing the rigorous checklist developed by COREN to align Nigerian engineering education with global best practices as demonstrated at Unilorin.

To ensure a healthy and standard-compliant academic environment across higher institutions, the COREN President detailed nine mandatory operational benchmarks:

Paragraph one of the COREN standards mandates the strict determination of carrying capacities for all university engineering programs, alongside the regulation of admission quotas for each university and polytechnic engineering program in direct coordination with JAMB.

Paragraph two requires mandatory Student Indexing for every candidate enrolled in approved university and polytechnic engineering programs, alongside the full adoption of the 10-semester benchmark in alignment with international Washington Accord standards.

Paragraph three stipulates mandatory induction for engineering graduates into Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) such as the NSE and NATE, followed immediately by mandatory oath administration under COREN to formally admit graduates into practice as pupil engineers.

Paragraph four details the mandatory Continuous Professional Development (CPD) requirements administered by the NSE and NATE under the Engineering Professional Examination Committee (EPEC), through which engineers earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) necessary for practising licence renewals.

Paragraph five mandates the annual renewal of practising licences for all certified and registered engineering practitioners in Nigeria to ensure continuous professional compliance and ethical accountability.

Reaffirming COREN's commitment to university development, Prof. Abubakar assured the Unilorin management and faculty that the regulatory body will continue to support the institution in sustaining the Washington Accord benchmark through accreditation, joint capacity building, continuous assessments, and quality assurance exercises. He further outlined COREN's drive to narrow the skill gap through the "Triple Helix Principle," facilitating structural synergy between academia, industry, and government by encouraging faculty sabbatical leaves to industrial hubs and adjunct appointments of industry executives to university faculties.

The high point of the event was the official administration of the Professional Engineering Oath and induction, through which the graduates were formally transitioned into the cadre of pupil engineers under COREN guidelines and NSE. The oath and Induction was administered on behalf of the COREN Registrar, Engineer Professor O.A.U. Uche, FNSE, and NSE president Engr. Ali Alimasuya Rabiu respectively by Engineer Sunday Thomas Abolarin.

Following the oath-taking and induction ceremony, the organizers presented certificates of induction and special awards to the overall best-graduating students across the various departments in the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, drawing applause from university dignitaries, faculty members, parents, and fellow inductees.

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