aremite:

Is not d problem of d engineers, is d problem nigeria.cos nigeria education is very bad.am also a student of mechanical engineer.

I'm also a student of the above field.
Anyway, using a civil engineer whose concentration of study is based on road design as example, do you expect him to fund the project of a road he designs since it's not all about funds from the govt as you have stated above? Do you know how many dreams this country has killed if only it will bring a platform and fund a project on something and then, we'll see if they are actually useless?
@debosky, i thought you had gone cos i rarely see your posts but it's good to see you're still here. . . .
For that guy that said we can't produce yam pounder, have you heard of NIFOR?. . . .

The present educational syllabus  used in Nigerian universities are not fit for purpose.

Really guys, nija's got some of d best brains in d world bt d problem is d educatnal sys.(bad labs, confused lecturers who're not up to date etc).The Engineering students suffer d most(all theories and v.little or no practicals).Imagine @ my 2nd yr of studying comp. and Electronics eng. I cldn't even operate a computer properly yet I cld solve complex eqns.I know a lot of mech. engrs. who can't build, maintain or repair anything, Elect. Engr. who can't fix a simple switch.Pls dont blame us blame d system.

[size=15pt]the fact that we import almost everything in nigeria is a testament to the fact that our educational system has failed us  [/size]

Rgp92:

Nigerians like to blame the Government for their failure. Always crying. Worse of all, they wont do something about it. I wonder too, what the engineers are taught at school in Nigeria.

It is the responsibility of the govt to provide enabling environment for the populace to get good training. They are responsible because they are the custodians of the wealth of, and taxes paid in the land. There is nothing any individual can do on his own if the govt does not patronize them.
For more that 20 year the govt have been playing hanki panki with award of 2nd Niger Delta bridge to Nigeria engineers. When refineries were established in the 70s / 80s Many Nigerians were sent abroad trained to run them, same for the Steel rolling mills and other Industries and such as NAFCON etc,  Nigerians ran them the engineering aspects, Nigeria Railways had one of the best training schools in Africa at Iddo , All these were destroyed with  by Politicians and Military because they like to be importers. So blame the govt not Nigerian Engineers.

The same graduates go to school abroad to do their masters and they break records, they come back home and are making us proud.


Now the ministers are about to be sworn in out of almost 40 men and women, only 1 is being called an Engineer, yet we have  bad roads all over the place, infrastructures are non existent

Na wa O.  . A graduate should upgrade himself regularly

Every one on this thread has the potential to do what our engineers cannot do. Henry Ford was a stack illitrate and not an Engineer but he built Ford Motors. Bill Gates dropped out of school and was not an Engineer but he established Microsoft with his friend. It is very easy to talk but requires passionate dedication to act. We dont need Engineers in this country to make it. We need men who can think out of the box and question the statusquo. An inquisitive mind is an Inventor/Creator. People like Dangote and Adenuga who act and let others talk are the saviours we need in Nigeria. Get home and think how you can affect Nigeria.

given the current production levels and spare capacities of industries/companies in nigeria, i strongly believe nigeria should not produce more than 50,000 graduates annually. rather, we should focus more on producing  more "entrepreneurial technicians" who are trained with state of the art facilities.
why do pple go to universities in nigeria. . . . . . . .  hundreds of pple doing religious studies, thousands studying chemistry, zoology, physics, maths. . . . . i wonder a lot of the times whether this is wat nigeria really needs now. . . pple study engineering in nigeria with the hope of ending up in a bank after graduation, wat is the percentage of nigeria graduate who managed to build a career along their course of study in the univ? and my dumb president is insisting on creating more univs. as if this will create more jobs. . . . . .
pathetic!!!

Ileke-IdI:

Not all a useless.

A majority of them are.


Most of these Non-SW education certification should not even be looked at. While some SW certificate should be looked at very very well.

Too much puzzy for manliness and money  for paper going on in Naija.

Meaning. . . .
Schools like uniben, uniport, unizik, unn should not be looked at? But then I forgot, it's ileke-idi. . .one of the core tribalists on nl

Then after attending a School of Health in your village, you turn around to accuse Nigerian Engineers

The Largest Church Building is Faith Tabernacle Ota designed and built 100% by Nigerian Engineers!!
Can you beat that?

^^lol at your previous post. Pls calm down abeg. . . . .

They simply piss me off with this attitude of condemning anything Nigerian!
Why must it always be greener on the other side?
NIGERIAN ENGINEERS ARE SO GOOD
ANYONE IN THE MAINSTREAM OF ENGINEERING PROFESSION AS I AM SURELY KNOWS BETTER

@ poster, Kindly speak for yourself and about yourself only instead of assuming that your predicament is a reflection of the general state of things.

I believe u know better and like someone said this has got to be a wind-up.

No matter what you guys says, they are Engineers afterall

Nigeria Engineers need to sit up!
Nigerians has the potential to be world class Engineer which they are not.

Let me answer this question with some  questions of mine and then answer it based on my opinion,      Could it be because our educational system is below par?  Could it be that like some people here said, a failed government that hasn't provided the capital or could it just be because majority of Nigerians( Africans) are genetically daft to be creative?

I have always asked myself this questions too, why we don't make stuffs or aren't as creative as our western or far eastern counterpart.

I think the answer is simple, until we tackle corruption, instability, disease, hunger , etc, we won't be as creative. I do agree with people who said government inadequacies is to blame. How can you be creative when there are no basics to work with like electricity, good roads, good law and order, etc? These basic problems troubling an average youth in Nigeria is gonna take away his/her focus ( creativity). They become unnecessary distractions,  Its not rocket science.

I believe when we tackle these social and political ills as a country (eg we have constant power, zero tolerance to corruption, law and order, good security, good education etc), then our youth will have less stress to worry about and will channel more of their efforts towards creativity and development.

In the  late 60s BIAFRAN engineers built armored tanks, rocket launchers, refined crude oil (to produce petrol,engine oil, gasoline aviation fuel etc), attempted to build an aeroplane etc, etc, etc.

Immediately after the war, the NIGERIAN government killed and directly or indirectlystill killing similar innovation for fear of what i dont know till today

Just before the amnesty programme NIGERIAN government destroyed about 160 oil refinaries in SS and SE(they never cared to promote indigenous technology and licence those refinaries viz-a-viz regulating their activities.

Two weeks ago the NIGERIAN government tooks some youths in ENUGU STATE to court(it was in the news, may be they are still in police custody now)
From what i read in the newspaper, those guys built their own BASE STATION and were retransmitting/reselling DSTV,HiTV etc signals

In as much as i do not support piracy but those young Engineers should have been encouraged in another form.

Those who blin.dly think nigerian engineers are useless should open their eyes and reason properly

@buzegee

all the engineers and petroleun engineers we have in nigeria and they cannot refine crude oil and neither can they build oil rigs. what exactly do nigerian engineers learn in school apart from how to balance moinmoin on top of eko so that it does not fall down ?

Is this a silly joke or something?
I hate myself for getting into this discourse but after watching the same trash being regurgitated for three pages, l am constrained to "contribute" just a few lines.
Honestly speaking, if l consider any of my kids and the kind of knowledge they have in their head, the kind of "models" they have done with ordinary paper, the "activities" they do in school and the exposure they even have from watching TV (watching programs like "How Things are made", How Stuffs made", e.t.c), l tell myself, "No wonder they are very much more brilliant than me, at their age"!

Now, do l blame myself for that? NO, not in anyway.

I was the best l could be, at that time, based on the "resources available and the environment" l found myself (and l am talking about somebody given birth to, by Graduate parents who are traveled and work in decent places!).

I dont know "buzegee" or what he does for a living but "whatever" he is doing right now, l want to assure him that he is at least 75% under-utilized! Yes, you are only delivering 25% of what you are actually capable of! Prove me wrong if you can.

Have you ever wondered why some who struggle to graduate in Nigeria suddenly become a sort of "Genius", graduating with first class honors, when they come abroad? Just give it a thought and dont abuse me yet!

Like others have pointed out, go to NIFOR, go to FIRRO and many other places (l was part of a team at the Biomedical Engineering Dept, LUTH, that developed a Baby incubator, in those days and we took it to a trade fair! We've done our part, as students and l was not even a "core-engineer" by then!).

Let me share this with you: My B.Sc project was in the "Design and construction of a remote controlled car demobilizer" (this was decades ago, then it was a novel idea!). I designed and constructed it, installed the "Receiver part" in my Dad's car and brought it to the campus during project defense. I got an A+ in that 6-Units course!
Many years later,l went back to my Dept and saw my Project with so much dust on it (it cost me a lot of money to build it as everything was done the hard and manual way!) and asked that l should at least be allowed to take it away and show it to my kids, if not for anything else! Well, the request was denied.

Now, in a good country, (as is done in Europe and the Americas) the "Venture Capitalists" (Rich businessmen) are always on the prole looking for "good and innovative ideas" to pump money into!
They will invest in it, commercialize it and make their money back in multiple fold!

Lets leave the Nigerian Govt out of it for now.
Have you ever wondered why our own rich men (even if they did loot our national treasury) will rather stash their loot in Monaco, Belize or a Swiss bank, rather than "multiply it" by investing in such innovations?
Go to "Silicon Valley" (in the U.S) today and see how "start-up Ventures" get financed and encouraged.

With money, you can "fine-tune" your invention in a way that it can compete with others from other parts of the world.
You can have access to latest technology, materials and fabrication methods.

Do you know that Engineer Awojobi built a "local car" that was on display at Unilag, for so many decades?
How many "Aba-boys" have built cars and whatever you can think of?

I feel very sad for you, that you can insult "Engineers" like this, if you are one, you will know what it takes to even graduate, talk-less of becoming a "qualified" engineer!

Again, you need to understand that by our curricula, University Engineers dont "BUILD" things! We have two-tiers of Engineers.

1.)University trained (B.Eng, B.Sc, e.t.c) : Their job is to "conceptualize, and design" engineering solutions.
They are like the Architect that "designs a building" and supervises it construction on ground! His job is to ensure that the "design" is followed, during construction, offering expertise where needed. Though if need be (and this is very rare), he will enter the  trench with them. This is to ensure that their level of knowledge is not encumbered by "rudimentary tasks" that "others" can handle, without waste in manpower!

2.) Institute & College of Technologies (HND's, e.t.c): This group is by no mean inferior or subordinate to the first group, they are both experts and competent leaders but  in different areas! Their job is to "pick-up" what the first group has "designed" and "bring it to life". They are involved in actual construction and their curricula is more practical-based but devoid of the finesse expected of an Engineer who is supposed to "negotiate" a project financing! (That wan need grammar small naah!  )

Now, both "groups one and two" will always work together. And you can find them like that in all advance economies.

The problem with the "Nigerian system" is that around the 80's, people saw that it was easier to "have access to and loot funds", if you are in the office! .,, and that is where you will find the first group! , On the drawing board! Pen Robbers! and everybody wants to be one!

Again, due to our "silly colonial mentality", "idiots" began to ascribe "superiority" to the first group and began to pay them more than the second group! But the reverse should actually be the case!. The same reason you see some "Oga" sitting on a swivel chair all day in the office and he gets paid ten times more than the people who actually do the work!
It does not happen like that in advance economies except for some "few experienced Specialists".
A "bricklayer" gets paid as much, if not more than a bank cashier, for example, in Europe and America. (I know this for a fact).

Putting all these together, l will conclude by saying that "the Engineers" are not the problem, our environment is the problem!
What sort of engineering prowess do you expect from a country where the Presidential Villa makes a yearly budget for "GENERATORS"?
We have a govt that pays "lip-service" to technological advancement, that is just the fact and l am not surprised, in a country that is 50yrs old, we just got a first graduate President at 48yrs!
And they are not even "honors" graduates
In a country where the head of the CBN is a graduate of Islamic Banking! (where are the chartered Accountants, the Economists, the Financial Managers, e.t.c ?)
In a country where mediocrity is the order of the day and round pegs are put in square holes, just because we must abide by "Federal Character and Quota Systems"? (Name one developed Nation that operates on Quota system or Federal Character?)

The system we operate right now is just so rotten we should actually recognize the "ingenuity" of Nigerian Engineers (and students in general) who can survive the constant abuse and deprivation called Nigerian Educational system.
What manner of Engineers can you produce from Universities with empty Laboratories and constant black-outs? Is that the students fault?

Maybe "buzeege" is still too young or too inexperienced to grasp the enormity of the 'rot' and hence his frustration on "Nigerian Engineers" but really, they are not the problem.
Can any Engineer walk into a bank with his invention and ask the bank to fund its production? No way!
But they are willing to give unsecured loans to @Sin-nators@ and one crooked business man who will share them 25% and refuse to payback the loan

I weep for my country.

OP what give you this dumb conclusion that nigerian graduates are useless?
Its the Govt of the day that is useless  because it refuses in giving the required facilities for nigerian engineers to excel in their profession.Take a look at our universities and you would understand what i am talking about.You should blame the Govt and not the graduates for the problems in the county.IF nigerian engineers and graduates are so useless then how come they excel abroad?

Engineers are Professionals that apply Scientific principles to design and develop things, machines, devices, systems & processes that help improve the way we do things, improve public safety and better the lives of the people.

Unfortunately there is no proper regulation and licensing of engineering profession in Nigeria. The result is that anyone with an engineering degree call himself or herself an Engineer.  In North America, the title "Engineer" is a protected title. and unless you are licensed as a Professional Engineer, you can not call yourself an Engineer (though you may work in engineering).  it does not matter that you have an Engineering degree.

To answer your question,     No - Nigerian graduates, i.e Engineers are not useless (Nigerian Universities need to step up R&D to increase the stock of knowledge locally & compete globally)

I am a Nigerian trained Engineer that have not only practice engineering in Nigeria but currently a practicing Professional Engineer in North America. And except for the advanced technology and strict professional engineering licensing requirements/regulation, engineering (depending on your specialization) is basically the same anywhere in the world.

Am tired of this people who thinks Engineers are magicians. Tell them constituent component needs replacement and they start to say, manage it now, just let it work , abeg, and when calamity strike, dem go begin shout . Which refinery are u maintaning , with what material, where is the fund. Just like this useless leaders have turned Doctors(especially surgeons) to Human butchers , accountants and bankers to thieves , stockbrokers to proper theives, economics to weather  forecasters, pharmacists to panadol extra shed owners,builders/surveyors to concrete/wonle-wonles, it has turned Engineers to toohless bulldogs. Are u not suprised that a technocrat like Aganga could not even perform in naija, dats naija, I dey hail o!
And dont just compare Naija with any other country, its a pity am putting all this on the internet but any honest Nigerian will tell u that no theory works or is applicable to Nigeria.

The Nigerian education system is not design to be a good research institute, rather they are more of cramming the text books that are made for African students.
When I was in 200level, I wanted to go into HIV research, but the university lab does not have the type of microscope needed for such research.
Nigeria needs help from Nigerians in diaspora who are academicians to build our educational sector.

When 'll Nigerians stop complaining about what they know little or nothing about? What is it that is special about constructing an oil platform, refinery and so on. Are there not Nigerian Design engineers who design these systems. In my year four in the University(UNILORIN), we (eight of us) designed a windmill. In my final year project, we demonstrated how to harness electrical energy from sea water osmotic pressure. The guy who posted this junk and his supporter should contribute enough money and see if Nigerian Engineers can design, build, operate and maintain successfully all those systems and structures or not. se systems and structures or not.

I will like to think that all yah dissing (ja Engineers stopped at secondary school hence the low mentality.

Quote from: debosky on Yesterday at 03:53:35 PM
Petroleum engineers do not build rigs.

In actual fact, engineers design the systems and you need skilled technicians to do build the systems.

What is lacking is institutional/organisational capability. That requires capital, construction facilities and the like which are not readily available in Nigeria.

Besides, majority of rigs are built in specific countries in the world with the competitive advantage to do so. No point reinventing the wheel when you can get the technology off the shelf and use it in your application.

buzugee:

bros how body now ? you just go missing in action like dat sha. hope all is well. i hear ya but this obtains in all aspects of naija life. why engineers cant build inverters, gens, water generating pumps in villages, solar panels etc etc, we are endowed with the resources to make them. this is why westerners come to steal these resources. because we are not using them. the engineers are busy drinking peppersoup

i have always wondered y u know, !!
someone better not be using the example of anyone remouing engine from a car and using it to run a garri grinding machine, i don wanna hear about it, k!
where r the Solar Panels? the locally designed or reversed engineered tri cycles of whatever? why does the goverment always get the blame?
DO WHAT PEOPLE DO IN AMERICA, INVENT SOMETHING AND PERSUADE Leaders of INDUSTRY IT WILL MAKE MONEY AND THEY WILL FUND THE MASS PRODUCTIONS OF UR INVENTION AND THE MARKETING OF IT!!

those of yall here calling people illiterate, if u r an engineer, why dont u do what people in the West do as i just described above?/
why dont all ur universities have none-stop electricity provided by the engineering faculties??

smh

Engineers are only taught the fundamentals in college. There’s no way a degree can prepare you for everything that you need to implement a real life project except in very few cases.  You’d be hard pressed to find people with no practical experience explaining how all the equations learned in school relate to the real world. In the real world, things are not exact like calculations that we did in school. Most of the specific skills that you need to learn are learned on-the-job.

The OP spoke of building a rig but we lack the technical expertise to pull off such a project as the skills needed are passed from more senior engineers with real world experience. This is the reason why most major technical projects in Nigeria will have whites overseeing the project.

You can’t just read your way into a technical marvel without hands-on experience!

Pinoralia:

When 'll Nigerians stop complaining about what they know little or nothing about? What is it that is special about constructing an oil platform, refinery and so on. Are there not Nigerian Design engineers who design these systems. In my year four in the University(UNILORIN), we (eight of us) designed a windmill. In my final year project,  we demonstrated how to harness electrical energy from sea water osmotic pressure. The guy who posted this junk and his supporter should contribute enough money and see if Nigerian Engineers can design, build, operate and maintain successfully all those systems and structures or not. se systems and structures or not.

not to mention secondary school students. Are olas4u and buzu kids? Cos they like kids

Just one word -POLICY!