I be an HND holder and I know who I am.

They thought us that if you are erecting a building and its foundation  or structure is not good, The building would collapse one day it it even stand for you to see. If you are designing electronics, and there is a simple fault on the power supply,  your project will never work.

If you are doing any mathematical calculation, and the beginning is wrong, no matter what you do to achieve an answer ( right or wrong) at the end is wrong. This is because a wrong start at any engineering or mathematics  would bring a blown circuit board.

The universal technological man power pyramid we know before the
introduction of Engineering Technology is ratio 1:4:12 very effective for
this country when one Engineer requires four technician and 12 craft men.
This is still what is in practice today in advanced countries of the wolrld,
the word craft was simply changed to betternames as Technician or
TECHNOLOGIST where someTechnician was branded as Technologists not trained
like the Nigerian HND. Other countries use the word technician to replace
craft men.
The Nigerian polytechnics syllabus for  Higher National Diploma is far above
some of these countries Engineering technology. Nigerian HND certificate was
regarded as  that of postgraduate in some countries, based on the workload
and the credit hours. The only reason for the scanty nature of the COREN
register for Engineering Technologist is the placing of the cadre as a sub
to Degree.

In the public service HND holders are employed on GL 07 the
limit to an HND holder is Chief Technical officer, The Engineering
technologist do not exist beyond COREN office as the civil service seems to
have no record of it so they could  not recognize it. Whereas a University
degree who registered with COREN can rise far above to Directorate level,
the grade Level bar  on the HND holders who are Civil Servants has been
removed the engineering technologist should enjoy it. Gasper (2000) stated
that the division of labour at engineering cadre is not to make one cadre
superior to the other.

For HND holders, discrimination in labour market continues since nobody
seems to know the meaning of ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY and this cannot be
justified, each HND programme is a five years programme at the polytechnic
against the 4 years of the University engineer,we gave our support for the
call for polytechnic cancellation.

Nigerian Association of Technologists and Engineers (NATE) is the only HND
holders organized society for now, and the experience so far show the hatred
from the B.Sc. Engineers for the TECHNOLOGIST. The HND engineering
graduates were refused recognition and often lumped in the technical cadre
with those of lower qualification.

This is another way the NSE deflated the Technologist cadre. Even then the
first examination held by NSE was drawn for 20 candidates but only two
showed up and only one wrote the paper. The other spent time to explain the
Hate-Crimes as a protest to why he should not write the examination. In 1985
the NSE introduced a local ladder an equivalent of CE I part II examination
through the approval by council, the first exam proper was held in 1988 and
by the end of 1990, 693 HND holders and FTC holders had taken the exam it
these men were Technologist now we shoul be talking above 1000 Technologists
and for years only 124 had passed the examination and waited again for 2
years before been registered by COREN.

NATE challenge the right of NSE to conduct such exams in court but due to
“superior” ability of NSE, the court was well attended by brilliant lawyers
and the situation favor NSE as reported by Prof. Ade Ajayi's History of NSE
The past debts inherited by Engr. Inuwa may also be reckoned as the sore
problem caused by NATE who had taken the NSE to court over the graduateship
examination for HND holders.

The "hate" became critical when Engr. Inuwa became president of COREN and
again used his influence with the Government, he was able to complete the
process of amending Decree 55 of 1970. Thus Degree 27 of 1992 finally rename
Technological Engineers as Engineering Technologist with abbreviation
Engn.Tech which Britain used for their Technician.
Before this new decree NATE was involved in the amendment. COREN, agreed to
Technological Engineers in fact NATE suggested COREN'S new name "Council for
Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) as a way to meet the desire of
the HND holders. Several other issues were yet unresolved before some people
with vested interest in COREN rushed into the amendment of the decree.

To this end a rival organization was floated by COREN and financed by NSE
named Nigerian Institute of Engineering Technologist (NIET) whose
registration was rejected by corporate affairs commission (CAC) this was to
put to rest the agitation of NATE.

NATE as an association has tried very much in championing the right cause of
HND holders right from inception, NATE has always opposed the designation as
Engineering Technologist but for separation of Identity Technological
Engineers was used. Re-designating courses run in the Polytechnic as
Technology is a plan to prevent competition and it was so easy to libeled
the HND Engineers as Technologist. In Canada Technologist is 3 years course
and not in anyway trained as Nigerian HND.

Today we are witnessing Engineering Technologist and Engineers in Nigeria.
In the Trenched hall University of Ibadan at the 7th Arokodare Memorial
lecture, Engr. Fadupin did not hide his feeling of hate when he openly
called on the NSE to do more by opposing COREN registration through mature
program. Since nurses, Pharmacists and lawyers do not have mature route, so
let every body go on a level playing ground. NSE should be for university
graduate. All that attend polytechnic at one time or the other should join
the TECHNOLOGIST, Today the Nurses and other paramedical stayed on their
own. HND engineering can go to places and have their own council.

In 1998 an amicable resolution to this "hate crimes" was reached a mature
route for was open for HND graduate, COREN counter proposal limit the mature
route to 1982. NSE put a stop to this mature route in 1999 then NATE have to
sacrifice by agreeing to change name for this, the mature route became open
till December 2002 for graduate who are 45 years of age and obtained HND
1982.

Consequently, NATE agreed to change name to Technologist Engineering. COREN
which has been sponsoring a rival group NIET for registration is in a
delimma to withdraw that sponsorship or not, and the mature route was
announced on November 16th at Owerri by COREN'S president Engr. Osoba. The
important of this route was that all those who graduate up to 1982 with HND
became be Engineers but still in their old grade up till today leaving the
Technologist.

No body give any respect to COREN Technologist Registration, the certificate
is worthless and has no professional value for academic, employment even
consultancy. As at today more than 70% of registered Technologist already move to the
register of engineers and mostly current NATE members are fully registered
engineers, by every standard those that are not registered as engineers are
more than qualify. Why should we waste our money trying to be Engineering Technologist when we can equally be engineers that is why the register of Engineers swelled up

At today about 50% of new intakes in NSE had HND+PGD, so who would want to
remain as technologist? So many HND holders have contributed or are
contributing very meaningfully to the development of Nigeria. The
discrimination preventing NATE members from going beyond Level 14 in the
civil and local Government services is on solvable with COREN registration.
The civil service only recognized Technical and Higher Technical Officers.
This Engineering Technologists is still strange to the civil service,
Technologists cannot go any further, and this places some kind of
disadvantage not only on the HND holders and COREN but on the country as
well.

HND holders ordinarily should have much more contributed to our
development and we feel that the COREN should review its policy with the
presidential directive. The Higher National Diploma (HND) as a programme in
the country’s education system would cease to exist when the government
abolished it and replace it with B. Sc, B.Eng., and B. Tech.

Same privileges for Technologists and Engineers is what we feel can
maintained Engineering man power pyramid in the this country or outright
cancellation of the Technologists cadre if better treatment cannot be given
to the Technologists. The FTC and ND holders could occupy the cadre, as the
HND is not inferior to first Degree in Nigeria again, the National Diploma
(ND) programmes may be retained "as a non-degree component as this is the
critical middle level manpower that the country needs. Engineering
Technology was duped on HND holders, why some university actually have
faculty of Technology, we of NATE felt this is part of the hatred for HND as
those who had Bachelor of technology in engineering were registered as
engineers.
This is one of the sour points in polytechnic education, because employers
of labour and universities refuse to rate HND as equivalent to a university
degree for the purpose of employment or use the Engineering Technologist
certificate of COREN as something with value.

Section 6 of the National Policy on Education, listed the Polytechnics as one of the five types of
technical education institutions outside the Universities which offer technical education. It further defined technical education as that aspect of education which leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge. The polytechnics that most of the adaptive researches, relevant to national aspirations for development were
being carried out.

Over 75 percent of polytechnic lecturers are university
graduates and are designated as lecturers, having the career path of
becoming Chief Lecturer, Head of School, and Rector. Polytechnic graduates
are called instructors and cannot attain any of these positions except they
get additional University degree. This discrimination is now more prevalent
in the larger society where some government agencies and private companies
have refused to employ polytechnic graduates with its COREN Engineering
Technology registration.

Why pegging HND holders progress? Even in the university, there is an
institutional organ called the congregation or the convocation, to be a
member of the congregation, you should be a graduate (which is not a right
of Polytechnics graduate) and by the interpretation of the graduate, you
have to be a degree holder. Because of that in the appointment of, say the
Engineering personnel some with HND who are very good, can not be place in
the position even with COREN engineering Technologists Certificate, because
if you do, you are no more qualified to be a member of the congregation. So
such things are there.

This has been a recurring decimal in the Nigerian education system. We
could recall by the year 1983 – 84, following the Cookey Commission report,
there was a distinction that was created between the salaries of he various
tertiary institutions, these emanated from the provisions of the policy of
education in the country, because within the polity, there was a need to
create various categories of manpower in the system; middle level manpower,
high-level manpower and the rest of them.

Till today an HND holder on level 13 who registered as Technologist with
COREN and later had the mature rout with COREN as engineer is still
reporting to a level 9 officer with university degree. The mature route was
more of trap than progress as most members are either retired or frustrated
after such an exercise. But of course, you must understand that the society
is changing. when the current President was a military Head of State, he
tried to harmonize the graduates of the polytechnic with those of
universities, but it did not work. The employers themselves sometime prefer
some polytechnic graduates to university graduates in some professions.

", however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it
will not be long, because truth pressed to earth will rise again.
How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever.
How long? Not long, because you will reap what you sow.
How long ? Not long, because the arm of the moral universe , bends
towards justice." Behind tomorrow's curtain" Martin Luther King
Jr. March 25, 1965

This quote is from the speech OUR GOD IS MARCHING ON delivered by Martin
Luther King Junior (MLK) in the front of the Alabama State capitol in
Montgomery, to celebrate the triumph of the four-day grueling march from
Selma's bloody Edmund Pettus Bridge. In the celebrated speech, MLK invited
those who vowed that the civil rights protesters would never get to the
steps of the capitol and those who swore that it would only happen over
their dead bodies to come and attest to the victory of the burning desire
for freedom over that of bondage. He was ecstatic about the triumph and he
reveled in it.

We in NATE have followed closely the interesting debates over the years on
this matter of HND/BSc. We hope that the COREN we give us some grant to go
into our archives and re-publish the series of major seminar papers and
memoranda on this issue for the education of the public at large. One other
impact of the discrimination against HND in Nigeria is the squander/wastage
of national intellectual and industrial potential and capacity. We are
convinced that the only intent of the Government institutionalized
discrimination is the elimination of serious competitors in the deliberately
narrowed field of participation created by the lack of industrial and
cultural expansion in Nigeria.
When next you see anyone brandishing their paper qualifications but not
their performance track record, take note that you are seeing an ignorant
person covering up the fact with the futile arrogance of paper. He/she is a
paper tiger. A tiger does not boast of its tigritude [paper/theoretical
ability to maul], it will actually tear up somebody, and the case is
settled! Let the paper tiger SHOW US what they have done with their paper
degree. It is all part of the culture of waste prevalent in the
underdeveloped mind.
We must redeem the day. The Indians (and now)- the Chinese too are already
there! Let Nigerian stop boasting and let us start doing and our work will
speak for us.

The HND/BSc unending discrimination and ensuing debate are one major reason
besides "corruption" why Nigeria has failed to industrialize, because those
who know are often sidelined and those who don't know get moved into
positions of decision making, where they wield power -unfortunately with
little real life experience on which to ground their decisions, and so they
fail! If you ask us, telling a lie is the root of all corruption. Telling a
deliberate lie [when we say a man is "not qualified or not competent" when
in fact he is!] - because of the inordinate ambition to gain an upper hand
over a good competitor- is corruption.
All corrupt acts necessarily begin with a deliberate lie. Of what use is the
registration with COREN as Engineering Technologist so our members says.
COREN registration cannot remove shame from our HND certificate. The
impression in many circles is that the university degree that COREN
registered, as Engineers is much higher than the Higher National Diploma
(HND) registered as Engineering Technologist. What is more, polytechnic
students aspire to acquire university qualification after the HND in form of
PGD for Nigerian society of engineers membership.

It should be noted that HND holders studied in polytechnics not as a result
of academic incompetence, but owing largely to frustration (resulting from
continued delay in securing university admission) and sometimes on financial
grounds. In fact, HND holders are not in any way inferior to university
degree holders. At the primary and secondary school levels, the same lessons
are taught, and the same examinations are set for them.

HND holders have been found to be very efficient by employers of labour, as
they are more practical oriented than university graduates. So, the emphasis
should be on holders (of Degree or HND) and not the title (or certificate).
Polytechnic education was designed as a component of the country's
philosophy of manpower development.

The National Policy on Education (2004)
states unequivocally that the polytechnics shall provide the technical
knowledge and skills necessary for agricultural, industrial, commercial and
economic development of Nigeria. The polytechnics are further mandated to
give training and impart the necessary skills for the production of
technicians, technologists and other skilled personnel who shall be
enterprising and self-reliant.
There is hierarchy in the scheme of the COREN that provides for Craft men,
technicians from technical colleges and theoretical technicians (ND) holders
from polytechnics we equally have the technologists (HND) holders from both
polytechnic and universities, and engineers degree and PGD holders.
All these categories have their functions because of lack of value for the
technologists and the societal discriminations every body wanted a
conversion, then this means everyone would be at par, making everyone an
engineer this has swell the register of engineers, leaving few to performs
other duties and functions. The discriminations between HND and degree
holders were responsible for this sad development.


Let take the case of the Nurses in Nigeria, they were well respected they
have councils of their own with state and federal registration and
adequately remunerated, never do they want to be doctors, but the
Engineering technologist are interested to be an NSE member, often
Technologists are intimidated and forced by NSE members to write NSE exams
even force them to go to their NSE meeting.
There is an institutional organ called the congregation or the convocation,
to be a member of the congregation, One should be a graduate and by the
interpretation of the graduate, is to be a degree holder.

RESOLVING THE SITUATION
The problems have already been outlined the expectation that the issues will
be resolved in due time. However, there is certainly an urgency that cannot
be wished away in dealing with the key issues of recognition, title,
remuneration and amendment of the COREN Decrees.
On Recognition: One of the major problems has been the perception of the HND
as middle level, technical manpower because the polytechnics are lumped with
technical schools under the same regulatory body - National Board for
Technical Education.

On Title and Designation: The American Model designates holders of the 4-yr
engineering technology program (BS ET) as engineers, the same way as the
holder of the HND or CNAA degree is in the British system. Thus, it is a
wonder why there is so much resistance to accepting this title for the HND
holder in Nigeria.
degree in Technology (B.Tech) in Polytechnics ‘as this will effectively stem
the drift from the technical cadre.’

The relegation of technical know-how in general manifests in many ways in
Nigerian society. Parents want their children to become doctors and lawyers
but rarely do they recommend engineers and technicians as role models for
their kids. When you mention technical education, people think of
nitty-gritty hard labour jobs, out in the sun in shorts and rolled up
sleeves stained with oil and grease. But we cannot also fail to recognise
the dangers posed to Nigeria's progress by the national obsession with
white-collar professions and vocations at the expense of the
no-less-important technical education and skills acquisition aspect. This
issue is gradually assuming alarming dimensions in the context of the
increasing importance of technical know-how and technology in general in
world development. The uncomfortable truth staring at us is that the modern
world is technology-driven, with less premium on memo-pushing white-collar
jobs that lure our people. It is therefore a matter of national urgency that
steps are taken to realign our educational bearings to dovetail into the
ongoing world-wide technological revolution.

May God help nigeria. Scrapping polytechnics and HND will not solve nigeria's problems, it will only worsen it. Our policy makers are something else. Can nigeria ever be an industrialized nation with out Technical education??

HND slave qualification is no longer for us.

For long i have not heard anything about the educational reforms. Are polytechnics still going to continue their normal ND/HND programs??as or are they going to start running ND/BTech programs from next session?? Any news?? because everybody is silent about it; even the education minister that carried out the reforms i learnt she has gotten another appointment in US abi na UK sef.

They are going to start running ND/BTech programs from next session
Waiting for news because everybody is silent about but the draft bill is ready. Yaadua may complete it.

@Hnd-holder
HND is a stressful qualification in nigeria. one can even get hypertension or high BP if he/she is holding HND certificate.

I stand to confirm that it is true HND can cause High BP.

Yes most people who develop high BP in Nigeria are holders of HND certificates.