Hunger Protest: COREN Urges Dialogue, Postpones Annual Assembly

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has appealed to Nigerians protesting against hunger to embrace dialogue and consensus in resolving the impasse.

COREN President, Prof Sadiq Zubair Abubakar made the appeal while briefing journalists on the forthcoming 32nd Engineering Assembly scheduled to hold on Monday which has been postponed due to the ongoing nationwide protest.

Some Nigerians had on 1 August 2024 began a protest tagged #EndbadGovernance across the country in response to high cost of living resulting in grounding economic activities is some states.

Prof Abubakar said the COREN Assembly which was initially scheduled to hold between 5-7 August, 2024 has been postponed to 2-4 September 2024 due to the ongoing protests.

He therefore, appealed to both parties to come to roundtable to resolve their differences in the interest of the nation.

He said COREN as a body cherishes its annual gathering of all engineering practitioners across the world both at home and in the diaspora to review performances however, saying after watching the protest, the event was postponed.

He said, “So we are actually shifting the event for exactly one month; the venues and every other thing remains the same.

“It’s very important to do this so that we can put some respite to the anxieties. I’ll like to declare that we are first and foremost Nigerians before we are engineering practitioners and so, under such circumstances, we need to join hands with our leaders as well as followers to ensure that normalcy returns in our dear country.

“In that wise, COREN is declaring, and informing everybody that our 32 Assembly is being shifted from 5-7 of August to 2-4 of September.

He continued, “I, on behalf of the management and all the engineering practitioners in this country, appeal to our brothers and sisters across the country to please listen to the word of wisdom; to please promote dialoguing and consensus on issues that bother our country in this very challenging time.

“The Engineering profession is focused on how to develop our country, how to enrich our democracy and how to improve governance in our nation. So, we are appealing to both sides to please put heads and wisdom in resolving this impasse. We wish our country, leaders and followers a peaceful resolution of this impasse,” he said.