Protest: Engineering council postpones 32nd assembly

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has urged the federal government and the people to embrace dialogue as a way of resolving the country’s current challenges.

Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, President of COREN,said this at a news conference on Friday in Abuja, where he announced the council’s 32nd Engineering Assembly.

He said that the programme, earlier scheduled to run from Aug. 5 to Aug. 7, would now run from Sept. 2 to Sept. 4. due to the ongoing protests in the country.

According to Abubakar, the postponement is in the best interest of all stakeholders, considering the situation on the ground.

He said the event was shifted by one month so that participants worldwide would know.

The COREN president said it was important that the council do this so as to give some respite to the anxiety and uncertainties.

“I will like to declare that first and foremost, we are Nigerians, before we are engineering practitioners.

“So, under such circumstances, we need to join hands with our leaders as well as our followers to ensure that normalcy returns in our dear country.

“In that way, Colin is declaring and informing everybody that our 32nd assembly is being shifted from Aug. 5th to 7th to Sept. 2nd to 4th.

“On behalf of the council, the management, and all the engineering practitioners in this country, we want to appeal to our brothers and sisters across the country to please listen to the word of wisdom.

“Please promote dialoguing and consensus on issues that bother our country in this very challenging time.”

According to Abubakar, the engineering profession is focused on how to develop the country,  enrich her democracy, and improve the governance of the nation.

"So, we are appealing to both sides to please put heads and wisdom together in resolving this; maybe I may call it normality in democracy: people asking questions and people responding in the most logical and respectable way on both sides.

“We wish our country, our leaders, and our followers a very peaceful and quick resolution of this situation, and we wish our country the very best,’’ he said.

Abubakar said that although the dates for the assembly were changed, everything, including the venues, remained the same.