Guys please I want you to help me analyse my observations and tell me if technicians are better than engineers in Nigeria.

I have observed that theses days, majority of the contracts and small jobs are being given to technicians and rather than engineers. Some people come up with arguements that engineers are expensive, or are not experts, etc. Even in the ministries of works you will find less than a handfull of engineers, the rest are technicains and OND holders occupying positions that are meant for engineers, and as a result of this, most times when we have problems.

Engineers needs to come out and fight for their rights, we can't find any because we don't have the correct people on those seats. This has given birth to engineers suffering from lack of jobs and even those with jobs are being maltreated and underpaid.

Guys, do you know the sucking part of it all?

This evil is being done by older engineers who do not want to upgrade their knowledge and are afraid of loosing their positions to young and vibrant engineers. It now makes the situation look as if we don't have engineers in Nigeria or they are not capable.

Thank you.

This is a country that we don't value quality engineering work due to our poverty mentality rather believing in crude method/old system that less in cost which make the so called Engineer's not to have confidence in themself by bringing themself low to a level of technician (a lot to say about that), and Nigeria still have a long way to go in terms of technology.

Emusan: This is a country that we don't value quality engineering work due to our poverty mentality rather believing in crude method/old system that less in cost which make the so called Engineer's not to have confidence in themself by bringing themself low to a level of technician (a lot to say about that), and Nigeria still have a long way to go in terms of technology.

Is there any way out of this?

*reserved*

I'll be back!

SORRY I DID NOT READ IT.I WANTED TO COMMEN EARLY ..WAIT LET ME GO AND READ IT NAW

People think technicians re cheap but they don't look @ d after-mate. Imagine almost dsame amount to carry out maitainance. Engineers look @ quality work y d technicians look @ qaulity profit dey wil make

jechona: Guys please I want you to help me analyse my observations and tell me if technicians are better than engineers in Nigeria.

I have observed that theses days, majority of the contracts and small jobs are being given to technicians and rather than engineers. Some people come up with arguements that engineers are expensive, or are not experts, etc. Even in the ministries of works you will find less than a handfull of engineers, the rest are technicains and OND holders occupying positions that are meant for engineers, and as a result of this, most times when we have problems.

Engineers needs to come out and fight for their rights, we can't find any because we don't have the correct people on those seats. This has given birth to engineers suffering from lack of jobs and even those with jobs are being maltreated and underpaid.

Guys, do you know the sucking part of it all?

This evil is being done by older engineers who do not want to upgrade their knowledge and are afraid of loosing their positions to young and vibrant engineers. It now makes the situation look as if we don't have engineers in Nigeria or they are not capable.

Thank you.

..ENGINEERS ARE NOT MARKETABLE ANYMORE..HANDWORK WEY PEOPLE THEY LEARN DEY SPOIL THEIR PLAN...

well, me thinks they are better

its because they dont value proffessionalism, they just want something done anyhow. Moreover getting an engineer do a job is better in quality and economy cause they avoid unnecessary expenses e.g a technician may nt consider d amount of work to be done before selecting a material he just picks a sheet with as much thickness as possible for a light weight platform

Following thread with keen interest

This is a country that we don't value quality engineering work due to our poverty mentality rather believing in crude method/old system that less in cost which make the so called Engineer's not to have confidence in themself by bringing themself low to a level of technician (a lot to say about that), and Nigeria still have a long way to go in terms of technology.

You are right, Here am expect more nija to come and say something rather than A m a b o

The truth is that d old engrs,though wit their experience,do not give to young engrs to make it.I think it also starts 4rm skul esp. the fed. Unis, where there is shortage of modern equipment,dearth of experienced lctrs nd others.

jechona: Guys please I want you to help me analyse my observations and tell me if technicians are better than engineers in Nigeria.

I have observed that theses days, majority of the contracts and small jobs are being given to technicians and rather than engineers. Some people come up with arguements that engineers are expensive, or are not experts, etc. Even in the ministries of works you will find less than a handfull of engineers, the rest are technicains and OND holders occupying positions that are meant for engineers, and as a result of this, most times when we have problems.

Engineers needs to come out and fight for their rights, we can't find any because we don't have the correct people on those seats. This has given birth to engineers suffering from lack of jobs and even those with jobs are being maltreated and underpaid.
Guys, do you know the sucking part of it all?

This evil is being done by older engineers who do not want to upgrade their knowledge and are afraid of loosing their positions to young and vibrant engineers. It now makes the situation look as if we don't have engineers in Nigeria or they are not capable.

Thank you.

Bros U're 100% correct, its not only in engineering dat u find ds happening ,it also happens in virtually every other proffession! But u hv 2 also recognize dat ya older colleagues hv families to take care of, however the bitter truth is dat d older guys someday will give way for the new guys.naija case is seriously really pathetic this is one of the reasons for youth employment.in other countries its mostly the youth that are running and driving their economies both in public and private sectors!

To me a good engineer is one who practise it not just theory all the time

How will you value an engineer? It is only when people run into serious structural problems in their buildings they run to an engineer for rectification after giving their work out to bricklayers. Like one of my lecturers once said "He was only thought how to solve tackle structural problems so that they dont occur" So once there is a structural problem in the building then I guess there is some demolishing needed.

In Naija, we are cool with mediocrity. Most organizations don't even have a well designed organogram with clear job descriptions, which should be the starting point. This then determines who you need to fill what positions. People want cheap and generally, what you pay for is what you get.

Don't understand why technicians and Engineers are being compared. They have different job descriptions. Its just like comparing an medical doctor and a herbalist!

Are Technicians better than Engineers in Nigeria? The answer is NO.

what you need to find out first is what makes one an Engineer or a Technician, so whichever way one decides to interpret its own acquired knowledge is left for the person and cannot be used as the yardstick to judge others.

coming to the ministry of works you cited in your post, I'd say that is has to do with the corruption in the country, those would prefer to give contract to a novice, who they can manipulate than to a professional whom they may not use to perpetuate there corrupt activities.

And moreover, society is all about how much money you have in your bank account hence you'll find most of our Engineers in fields not related to what they studied in school.

vizboy: To me a good engineer is one who practise it not just theory all the time

And who is a good Technician?

One of d problem we have in dis country is dat we dnt tell ourselves d truth, we believe dat since we have Bsc or HND we are better dan dis technicians. All wat i know today as an engineer, i paid thru my nose to know dem after graduation. Most of the time our heads are filled with theories of laplace transform,integration by part, variation of parameters, electronics 1- 4,control engineering etc but au many of us university graduates can boldly say dat if we are put side by side wit a technical college graduate to to perform a practical dat we will be able to stand dem? I've seen dis people work before, d truth is dat dey are better dan most us graduate in pratical aspect which is wat people giving out dis job cares abt. Even our lecturers give their works to dis people. So wat do u expect?

Well maybe Nigerian trained engineers but not foreign trained [especially western trained] ones
Just as night differs from day, a properly trained technician is not on the same level with a properly trained engineer.

Engineers and technicians play different roles.

A good engineer should be able to do and deliver properly the technical aspect of engineering jobs.

A good technician may not necessarily know/understand the engineering principles behind what they do.

Engineers come up with designs, carry out research, in some instances, develop releveant sofwares, etc.

Technicians are needed only for implemetation of what engineers have come up with.

A lot our engineers in Nigeria today are basically technicias because or university system is not research driven. Our engineers most times only implement, hence the reason technicians can do their jobs in Nigeria. In a few instances, we have engineers that do real engineering work. A few can be found in our oil and gas and telecoms sector.

To the engineers seeking attention, how many things have you fabricated in your entire career?
There is a man that can modify the small generator "I pass my neighbour" to enable it power a refridgerator. He is an engineer and has no headache over technicians competing with him
When people have nothing new to offer they start looking for whom to blame.
If you are offering a service that one can easily do despite the fact that the person is lower than you in academic standard then you need to upgrade yourself.

ignis:
And who is a good Technician?

if you are a good Electrical engineer that knows his work both practically and theory he can still called a technician i see no difference btw those two word as an electrical engineering student

The problem is that there is no room for enginers to work. Most of d work is actualy technician work.e.g::
:

mechanical engineers design new machines and cars. In nigeria, there is no toyota, volvo and car company in nigeria. What we have is importation and exportation. In PAN, PEAUGEOT,u will find mechanical engineers there. The engineers have to settle for supervising technicians.::
:-

My brother the only way out is a review of university training curriculum in the field aimed at producing practical based Engineers not theorists....When once dat is done, The nigeria society of Engineers[NSE] can be put to her toe....Believe me, the injustice will be brought to bare.

vizboy:

if you are a good Electrical engineer that knows his work both practically and theory he can still called a technician i see no difference btw those two word as an electrical engineering student

Its just like saying that a medical doctor can still be called a nurse.
Boy, if you actually did your homework well, you will know that there is a clear difference between an Enginner and a Technician.

Thorpe85: One of d problem we have in dis country is dat we dnt tell ourselves d truth, we believe dat since we have Bsc or HND we are better dan dis technicians. All wat i know today as an engineer, i paid thru my nose to know dem after graduation. Most of the time our heads are filled with theories of laplace transform,integration by part, variation of parameters, electronics 1- 4,control engineering etc but au many of us university graduates can boldly say dat if we are put side by side wit a technical college graduate to to perform a practical dat we will be able to stand dem? I've seen dis people work before, d truth is dat dey are better dan most us graduate in pratical aspect which is wat people giving out dis job cares abt. Even our lecturers give their works to dis people. So wat do u expect?

Those theories is why the engineered devices or equipment work - that knowledge is key for an engineer or designer. Having a good grasp of the theoretical basis allows an Engineer to design/redesign/invent/reinvent. Don't scorn theories - they are the source. Granted the practical operation of the equipment might be handled by a technician, but an engineer can grasp that too if need be, perhaps easily given his theoretical knowledge.

Engineers and technicians have their vital roles to play.

This is a fine topic but the author is now allowing people to make contribution but rather drawing his own conclusion yhis is not the best way to achieve a solution to a problem but rather compounding it

diehard1: Don't understand why technicians and Engineers are being compared. They have different job descriptions. Its just like comparing an medical doctor and a herbalist!

u said it all