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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The Federal Government has expressed worry over the incessant building collapses in Nigeria, mandating Council for Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN) to ensure a halt to the incident.
Speaking when members of COREN paid him a courtesy call, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Mahmuda Mamman, charged the Council to strategise and ensure a halt to incessant building collapses in Nigeria henceforth.
The Permanent Secretary said COREN being a Federal Government recognised regulatory body is vested with the elaborate mandate and powers to check and control building standards in Nigeria.
To this end, he said that if COREN was up and doing there should not be any cases of building collapses. The Permanent Secretary said that there seems to be a disconnect somewhere between Nigerian engineers and COREN.
Mamman also advised that all regulators in the engineering body should come together and seek audience with the Ministry of Finance, especially as regards the recent Federal Government Policy directive of self funding for all such bodies.
He further spoke to the idea of considering levies as a way of generating revenues to assist the council.
He, therefore, charged the council to come up with implementable plans and guidelines to reposition COREN for better performance and impactful services to Nigerians.
In a statement, Mamman appreciated the visit which he said was very fruitful while also directing that proper checks and registration alongside mandatory monitoring be carried out on construction activities that will end up in Nigerians living in well-built solid buildings with confidence without any fear of building collapse.
Earlier, the Registrar of COREN , Engineer (Prof) Adisa Bello, said that they were in the ministry to brief the Permanent Secretary on the activities of the council for the regulations of engineering in Nigeria . The registrar said COREN is a statutory regulatory organ of the Federal Government of Nigeria established by Decree No. 55 of 1970 amended by Degree No. 27 of 1992.
The registrar also confirmed that by the promulgation of Decree 27 of 1992 , COREN was merely a registration body of engineers and it was then known as Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria. However, with the expansion of its functions in 1992 , which now includes regulation and control of the engineering family, COREN’s name was changed to what it is now, but still retaining the acronym, COREN .
