Federal Govt Asks COREN To Check Incessant Building Collapse

Federal government has deplored the recurring building collapse in most parts of Nigeria and urged the Council for Regulation of Engineers in Nigeria (COREN) to check the ugly trend.

The charge came yesterday from the permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Mahmuda Mamman, when members of COREN visited him in Abuja.

He appealed to the Council to strategise against the menace and save the citizens who bear the brunt of building collapse.

Mamman said COREN being a federal government recognised regulatory body is vested with the mandate and powers to check and control building standards in Nigeria.

To this end, he said if COREN was up and doing, “there should not be any case of building collapse.”

He said there is a disconnect between Nigerian engineers and COREN.

Mamman advised all regulators in the engineering profession to seek audience with the Ministry of Finance, especially as regards the recent federal government policy directive of self -funding for such bodies.

He charged the council to come up with implementable plans and guidelines to reposition COREN for better performance and impactful services to Nigerians.

Earlier, the registrar of COREN, Prof Adisa Bello, said they were at the ministry to brief the permanent secretary on the activities of the council.

He said COREN is a statutory regulatory organ of the Federal Government of Nigeria established by Decree No. 55 of 1970 amended by Decree 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.