On Thursday, April 26, 2018, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Abeokuta Branch, will honour one of its most iconic leaders by instituting the First Sina Egberongbe Annual Lecture in his memory.
The event will hold at the Valley View Auditorium, Isale Igbehin, Abeokuta, Ogun State, under the theme: “Role of Engineers in Promoting Integrity in Public Services.”
The occasion is expected to attract many distinguished personalities. The Managing Partner of Telecom Answers Associates, Engr. Titi Omo-Ettu, will deliver the keynote address.
Among the dignitaries expected are Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, the Governor of Ogun State (Special Guest of Honour); NSE President, Engr. Adekunle Mokuolu, NSE President (Chairman of the Occasion); HRH Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland (Royal Father of the Day); and Hon. Justice Ademola Bakre (Rtd), Father of the Day.
But perhaps the most important question on many minds is Who was Engr. Chief Sina Egberongbe?
Engr. Chief Salih Sina Egberongbe, FNSE, was a proud son of Abeokuta, Ogun State. He pursued his academic training in Engineering at the University of Surrey, England, where he obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering — a foundation that would anchor a career spanning decades and continents.
Egberongbe began his professional journey in the private sector, working with Mobil Oil UK and Mobil Ltd, Kano, gaining valuable experience on both sides of the Atlantic before returning home to Nigeria to serve his state and country.
He transitioned into the Ogun State Civil Service, where he distinguished himself across several key roles. He served as the Director of Operations at the defunct Ogun State Waste Disposal Board and as Principal Mechanical Engineer at the Ministry of Works.
His competence and dedication earned him higher responsibilities, and he was appointed Director General with oversight spanning multiple critical departments: the Water Resources and Rural Development Department, the Bureau of Establishment and Training, and the Ministry of Works and Housing.
This appointment was made by the then Military Administrator of Ogun State, the late Navy Captain Lawal, in 1997. He retired from active civil service in August of that year.
He also served as a former Ogun State Permanent Secretary, a role that placed him among the highest-ranking career officers in the state’s public administration.
After his retirement, Egberongbe did not slow down. He founded Erinjogun Engineering Ltd, where he served as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer from 1997 to 2001.
His track record of excellence in public service brought him back into the spotlight when Governor Aremo Olusegun Osoba appointed him MD/CEO of Gateway Transits Company Limited, a position he held from 2001 to 2006, contributing to transportation development in Ogun State.
At the federal level, Egberongbe served as a Federal Commissioner in the Federal Civil Service Commission, representing Ogun and Lagos States, from 2006 to 2011— a testament to the national recognition his expertise and integrity commanded.
Engr. Chief Egberongbe was a man of letters as much as a man of action. He was:
A Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (FNSE)
A Registered Engineer with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
A Member of the Filtration Society of the United Kingdom
A Former Council Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management
He is remembered as a seasoned technocrat, a renowned public servant par excellence, a distinguished engineer, and a great mentor.
After a long illness, Sina Egberongbe passed away in Abeokuta, his hometown in the year 2013. He was 71 years old.
His memory lives on in the annual lecture series in his honour by the NSE Abeokuta Branch. The branch’s secretariat complex also bears his name — the Sina Egberongbe Block, Bolude Oyebolu Engineering Centre, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Abeokuta.
The lecture series, is expected to attract some of Nigeria’s finest engineering and public service minds, ensuring that the values he lived by — selflessness, integrity, and excellence — endure long after him.
Engr. Chief Salih Sina Egberongbe, FNSE, was not just an engineer. He was a builder — of infrastructure, of institutions, and of a standard of public service that Nigeria continues to aspire to.