The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has secured approvals from the National Universities Commission and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to enforce admission quotas across all engineering programmes in Nigerian universities, a policy the council says will raise the standard of engineering education and produce more competent graduates.

COREN President Prof. Zubair Abubakar disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing journalists ahead of the 34th COREN Engineering Assembly, scheduled for July 13 to 15 in Abuja.

Abubakar said the quota policy would place engineering programmes on the same level as medicine, law and pharmacy, compelling institutions to admit only the number of students they can effectively train.

"COREN has obtained NUC endorsement and JAMB approval to enforce admission quota for all engineering programmes in Nigerian universities similar to medicine, law, pharmacy, etc to improve the standards, quality and hands on competencies of engineering graduates for enhanced employability. COREN also works closely with NBTE for similar results in the polytechnic system," he stated.

Beyond admissions, the council said it had secured the reintroduction of oath taking and indexing for engineering graduates to strengthen professional tracking. The mandatory one year Engineering Residency Programme for degree and Higher National Diploma graduates has also been revived, requiring completion before National Youth Service Corps deployment. Abubakar noted the programme, which is backed by law, would place graduates in structured positions within engineering organisations to build practical industry experience.

The COREN president raised concern over unregistered and unqualified practitioners, whom he linked to recurring infrastructure failures, building collapses and industrial accidents.

"The nation continues to witness incidents of infrastructure failures, building collapses, industrial accidents and the activities of unqualified persons engaged in engineering practice. These occurrences not only result in the loss of lives and valuable investments but also diminish public confidence in the engineering profession," he said.

This year's Engineering Assembly, themed "Advancing Public Safety in Nigeria through Strategic Engineering Regulation, Enforcement, and a Tiered Sanctioning Regime," will address engineering governance, public infrastructure protection and national investment security.

Abubakar told journalists the council had trained and certified 239 engineering failure investigators and established five regional steering committees, 22 state technical committees and 22 engineering monitoring committees nationwide. He added that 868 programme implementers and 839 evaluators across universities and polytechnics had been trained and certified to strengthen accreditation quality.

COREN also plans to pursue amendments to the Engineers Registration Act to introduce proportionate sanctions for misconduct, ranging from corrective measures and retraining to licence withdrawal and prosecution. The council intends to deploy artificial intelligence and data analytics to reinforce engineering oversight.

COREN Registrar Prof. Okorie Austine stressed the role of the press in building public awareness on safety, and acknowledged that funding constraints remained a barrier to extending regulatory reach across all 774 local government areas.