I've read quiet a number of comments here refering to Nigeria programmers as 'not-up-standard'. My concern now is, as an average Engineering student and a prospective programmer, are online tutorials enough for me to become a qualified programmer?

zameen: I've read quiet a number of comments here refering to Nigeria programmers as 'not-up-standard'. My concern now is, as an average Engineering student and a prospective programmer, are online tutorials enough for me to become a qualified programmer?

No, they are not. Knowledge is all they would give you, but you need an intense level of discipline and adherence to methodology to start you on the right track.
By all means, get your online tutorials. But as soon as you've learnt to walk, get involved in an open source programme (preferrably based in the developed World); the bigger, the better. It will expose you to a lot of standards, approaches and procedures.
That way, you can begin to develop a feel for what proper software development is all about.

Good luck, bro.

Thank you sir, by the grace of GOD I'll start the online tutorial asap. where do you suggest I start from?. Meanwhile, I never know you are into Tech/programming, I think its either politics or nothing. GOD bless you sir.

Lol! I'm a serious coder, bruv.
The best place for you to obtain tutorials will depend on the path you wish to follow. Are you planning to go microsoft .NET, PHP, Python, Java etc?

Which one do you considered best for a beginner?

Thanks a lot

I would advice you to go the Microsoft route out of bias, cos thats my area. Lol!
Microsoft code tools are by far the best, with other platforms usually lagging at least a year behind. They also offer the best free teaching materials (videos and articles). Microsoft also offers free beginner code tools.
C# also beats every other language hands down, it is the language that all others now try to emulate.

Your reality might be different in Nigeria, though where PHP and Java are more popular (cos they are free). If you ever have the choice to pick between PHP and Java, make sure to choose Java. PHP is not the best language to start with, as you are likely to learn enough bad habits to become codes very own Satan.

If you have a great internet connection that will not break during installation, then get your coding weapons here (or look further down for the alternative):

1. Visual Web Developer (for beginner web development)
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-web-developer-express

2. Visual C# Express (for desktop development and creating binaries; dll's and exe's)
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-csharp-express

3. SQL Server 2012 Express (for database development)
http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/editions/2012-editions/express.aspx

If your internet connection is flaky, then go for the all in one download (best to do it with a download manager, if you don't have any of the latest browsers):
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/express-iso

TUTORIALS
Start here to get an understanding; it will take you through a well structured path that is unequalled; brilliant stuff for any learner. You will find a wealth of code examples, video's, articles etc. I would strongly advice that you download the 24 short tutorial video's:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/C-Sharp-Fundamentals-Development-for-Absolute-Beginners

If after you have grasped what it is all about, you decide to try web development, then you might want try the following pages:
http://www.asp.net/mvc
http://www.w3schools.com/aspnet/mvc_intro.asp

Forum where you can ask for explanations
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/csharpgeneral/threads

Bruv, you are welcome.