Transforming engineering education in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case for Nigeria

This paper presents the role of improved engineering education in transforming Nigeria and indeed Africa’s economy. The paper has determined that the training of engineering graduates in Nigeria is way below the globally accepted standard and basic facilities necessary to impact knowledge are lacking in institutions all across the country. These problems are compounded by government underfunding resulting in poorly equipped facilities, obsolete curriculum and Weak university-industry partnership. The approach used in carrying out the study include appraisal of government policies, review of research work and studies carried out by experts and academicians. It is our recommendation that the transformation effort focus on creating a system at every level of education particularly the tertiary institutions, hinged on quality control and full participation of private organizations and relevant industries in terms of sponsoring institutions and mentoring students through the result-based learning methods now being adopted globally. This can be achieved by establishing a body to administer a mandatory post graduate exam to all graduates as a pre-requisite for receiving the engineering degree certificate which will be a prerequisite for employment. Also, a centralised accreditation body should be established that carries out regular quality checks on engineering facilities to ensure they meet the set standard. This will yield better trained engineers, improved training methods and facilities as well as reduction in failure of infrastructure.