Analysis of COREN’s October Engineering Personnel Approval and Reality of Emerging Nigeria

By Isqil Najim,

In October 2025, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) approved a total of 2,243 successful Engineering registered list. This total comprises 2,141 individual professionals and 102 firms across various specializations. We take a look at the numbers which revealed some interesting observations.

Approved Engineers
The Engineer category remained the largest segment of approved professionals with 1,569 new certified professionals. This category accounts for approximately 73% of all individual approvals. This is an injection of top-tier expertise into the nation’s workforce. The approvals were concentrated in key disciplines:

1. Electrical Engineers (430).
2. Civil Engineers ( 422).
3. Mechanical Engineers (291).
4. Chemical Engineers (131), and
5. Petroleum Engineers ( 80.)

The list also include other specializations such as 71 Agricultural, 37 Computer, 31 Metallurgical, and 30 Electronics Engineers. Other disciplines certified were 13 Marine, 9 Production, 5 Mining, 5 Polymer, 4 Telecommunication, 4 Wood, 2 Structural, and 1 each for Aeronautical, BioMedical, Industrial, and Irrigation Engineers.

Approved Engineering Technologists
A total of 291 Engineering Technologists were approved. This confirmed a healthy pipeline of mid-level technical professionals. This cadre shows a clear focus on core engineering skills:

1. Electrical Technologists (124).
2. Civil Technologists ( 97).
3. Mechanical Technologists ( 58)
4. Other specializations included 3 Automobile, 3 Chemical, 2 Petroleum, and 1 each for Agricultural, Aircraft, Computer, and Electronics Technologists.

Approved Engineering Craftsmen

The Craftsmen category included 278 approved professionals across numerous craft specializations. This category remains essential for the hands-on execution of engineering projects:

1. Electrical Installation (77 ).
2. Motor Vehicle Mechanic had 43 Craftsmen, Marine had 35, and Automobile had 31.
3. Welding approved 25 Craftsmen, while Painting & Decoration had 10, and Auto-Electrician had 9.
4. Other trade specializations included 7 Refrigeration & Airconditioning, 6 Plant Mechanics, 5 Diesel Mechanic, 4 Fabrication, 4 Fitting, 3 Bricklaying & Masonry, and 3 Carpentry.

Approved Engineering Technicians
The Technician category listed a worryingly low number of 4 approved individuals, all of whom specialized in Electrical engineering.

Approved Engineering Expatriates

The approved Expatriates list contained 2 professionals: 1 Engineer specializing in Mechatronics and 1 Craftsman specializing in Electrical Installation.

Analysis of Approved Firms

On the corporate front, COREN accredited 102 new engineering enterprises, comprising 70 Engineering Firms and 32 Engineering Consulting Firms.

Engineering Firms

The 70 approved Engineering Firms were into three main categories:

1. Engineering Construction led the firm approvals with 32 firms.
2. Engineering Services Provision followed, with 24 firms approved.
3. Engineering Fabrication/Repairs/Maintenance saw 14 firms gain approval.

Engineering Consulting Firms

The 32 approved Engineering Consulting Firms reveals a diverse range of specializations, with most registered as Limited Liability companies. The approvals spanned nine combined or single specializations:

1. Civil specialization dominated, accounting for 20 firms. Only one of these, is a Sole Proprietorship.
2. Electrical approved 3 firms, and Mechanical approved 2 firms.
3. Firms registered under joint specializations included: Agricultural & Civil (1), Chemical (1), Civil & Mechanical (1), Civil, Electrical & Mechanical (2), Electrical & Mechanical (1), and Petroleum (1).

Emerging Specializations and COREN’s oversight

One can notice that there are no listed categories like Robotic Engineering, Software Engineering, Renewable Engineering, Data Engineering, etc. While young professionals often register under general categories like Electrical/Electronics, this lack of explicit recognition is a policy oversight that must be immediately addressed.

COREN must take proactive steps to specify explicit registration categories or sub-categories for these fields, such as Software Engineering and Renewable Energy Engineering. No doing this, under-counts Nigeria’s engineering capacity. Some registered mechanical Engineers, for example, may actually be specialists in Renewable Energy, while many Electrical Engineers can be in Automation and instrumentation or Data Engineers. So the columns should be: Name>>Categories>>Major>> and>> Specialization.

More Companies Needed
COREN must take proactive steps to significantly encourage more firms to register. Indeed, the immediate past COREN Registrar, Prof Ademola Adisa identified this earlier in the  year. As with the individuals, there is a conspicuous absence of firms who specialize in emerging technologies on COREN’s new release. For the Nigerian economy to grow stronger and move rapidly in the direction of global best practices, in this era of AI and other fast-paced innovations, a robust ecosystem of specialized, registered engineering firms is non-negotiable.

The Worrisome Inverted Pyramid: The Fruit of Dichotomy

The Technician category, which holds tremendous importance in the execution layer of engineering, recorded a miserable four registrants. This contrasts starkly with the 1,569 Engineer registrants and 291 Technologists. This situation is the direct outcome of systemic issues. The same observation was made in January, April and July releases. The implication is that more National Diploma graduates are choosing to move upward. Either to go for HND or Bsc. Similar, less personnel in HND categories are registering as Technologists. with 291 Technologists to  1,569 Engineers for October.

The HND/B.Sc. dichotomy is arguably the single biggest driver of this inverted pyramid. Discrimination against Higher National Diploma (HND) holders and National Diploma (ND), typically trained for technologist and technician roles respectively, in both public and private sectors, forces them to pursue conversion degrees or PGD/Masters to acquire an Engineer-level qualification.

Nigeria’s Invisible Engineering Crisis

While the overall data signal positive growth, this small influx pales in comparison to the nation’s massive, underlying engineering deficit. Nigeria is blessed with many talented individuals, but currently, the country has nowhere near the number of registered engineers it needs to build and maintain the modern infrastructure that its huge population requires.

The Stark Reality for Nigeria- The massive Gap

Based on existing data from COREN, there are roughly 85,179 registered engineers in the country. When you compare this figure to Nigeria’s more commonly cited population estimates of about 237.5 million for 2025, the ratio works out to only 3.59 registered engineers for every 10,000 citizens. The World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) benchmark for leading economies is typically between 100 and 120 active engineers per 10,000 people. Nigeria’s capacity is less than 4% of what is found in highly developed nations.

This shockingly low ratio highlights a critical gap in human capital. The WFEO frequently points out that a country’s engineering capacity is directly linked to its GDP: more practicing engineers equals more developed infrastructure and a stronger economy.  Nigeria’s engineering workforce is small in relation to its population ( per capita ). This huge disparity is a direct indicator of why Nigeria struggles to achieve world-class infrastructure and economic complexity.

When one factors in the unaccounted pool of registered engineers on the COREN database—many of whom have succumbed to the Japa syndrome or are currently expatriates in other countries—along with registered Engineers and Technologists who have successfully transitioned their careers to other sectors like banking, Tech, and administration, plus those who may have retired or deceased but remain in the database, we get a picture of a nation in dire need of more practicing quality engineers! We are already struggling with a shortage of Technicians, Artisans, and Technologists!

It is also concerning that a nation with such deficit will still have many unemployed engineers. We must interrogate this issue and explore what is missing. My guess is in industry, itself.  Nigeria’s quest for trillion dollar economy will be shaky unless the government include local engineers in the plan. No nation has ever truly developed by depending exclusively on foreign engineers. The recent trade wars among global powers should be eye opener to Nigerian on why it needs to develop its local industry and aim at self sufficiency.

In the final Analysis. it is important to give COREN its flowers for good job. The increasing registration of Craftsmen indicate that the Council grassroots awareness is working. Now is the time to: Increase focus on Mandatory Continuing Professional Development (MCPD), deepen the Outcome-Based Education (OBE) campaign across all universities and industrial exposure for young engineering graduates in all categories.

Isqil Najim is a mechanical Engineer, and can be reached on Linkedin