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AN EXPOSITORY ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF ENGINEERING

EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Conference Paper · January 2011

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 International Conference on Innovations in Engineering and Technology (IET 2011), August 8th – 10th,
2011. O.O.E. AJIBOLA

AN EXPOSITORY ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF

ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

O.O.E. Ajibola

Department of Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.

e-mail: oajibola@unilag.edu.ng,
Tel. Number: +234(0)8023025053,

ABSTRACT
The application of science in the design, planning, construction and maintenance of manufactured entity is
called Engineering. Engineering education is the training of engineers for the purposes of initiating,
facilitating and implementing the technological development of a nation. In Nigeria, the training of
engineers has witnessed formidable challenges ranging from poor funding to inadequate facilities, loss of
qualified human capacity due to the brain drain syndrome and poor staff training and retention profiles.
Other challenges include an almost non-existence of university/industry partnership, defective curricula,
traditional approach to teaching, poorly equipped laboratories, and poorly developed local codes and
monitoring standards for the training of prospective engineers as well as inadequate ICT environment. In
order to address these anomalies there is need to acquaint the policy makers in education sector of the
economy with myriad of problems that constitute impediment to the wheel of engineering education. This
paper is an attempt of to unveil the problems which have plagued the dynamism in engineering education
thereby making pedantic teachers to thrive in a field which holds the key to the future of Nigeria. It is hoped
that this work will promote a better understanding of the monster which can best be described as heirloom
to engineering education and by extension the future of Nigeria thereby sensitizing the stakeholders in
Engineering education towards the development of the Engineering education infrastructural base in the
country, provide adequate funding as stipulated by UNESCO, encourage students at secondary education
level to develop interest in science subject with well equipped laboratories to facilitate learning, as well as
carry out upward review of pay package for academics’.
Keywords: expository analysis, engineering education, application of science, training, dynamism, facilitate
learning, innovations.

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Engineering is the application of Science for the efficient utilization of natural resources to produce wealth.
It has also been defined as the “application of laws governing forces and materials of nature through
research, design, management and construction for the benefit of mankind. (Musa Alabe 2009). With ever
increasing fervor, society is asking for solutions to pressing problems for mankind. The engineering sector
is well suited to address many of these challenges; Some of these problems include; inadequacy of quality
drinking water, renewable energy supplies, quality public infrastructure to mention but a few. Technological
advancement serves as a major key to a nation's development. However, proper effective engineering
education (acquired through appropriate structures) plays a major role in the attainment of a high level of
technological advancement. The difference between a developed, rich and prosperous country and the
developing or underdeveloped country is the difference in their level of scientific, engineering and
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2011. O.O.E. AJIBOLA

technological advancement. Technology is sometimes confused with engineering; it is often mistaken for
machinery or computing device. Technology embraces more than machines as it also involves processes.
Engineering uses scientific ideas to develop technology, Falade (2010).

The common parlance that: engineers beautify the world grossly underestimate the prowess of engineering.
It suffices to claim that without engineering there is no skill thus reducing the world into a global village of
beasts. For instance, a medical doctor requires live information before he can treat a patient but with
engineering tools communication with the dead is possible. An engineer's ability to proactively contribute to
societal demands requires greater emphasis on developing new skills, knowledge and expertise, receiving
guidance from many sources namely; government, private industry and academia among others. It is sad to
note that most developing countries lack the wherewithal to adequately impact knowledge and training on
engineers at tertiary levels of education.

In Nigeria the major problems militating against proper effective engineering education include: poor
funding, inadequate laboratory equipment, students' population explosion (without commensurate facilities),
lack of high-quality manpower (in terms of trainers or teachers), ill-implemented industrial training
exacerbated by poor attitude of employers. In an attempt to fully understand the problems affecting the
training of engineers in Nigeria, it is essential to review these problems so as to proffer suggestions for
remedial actions.

2.0 IDENTIFIABLE PROBLEMS FACING ENGINEERING EDUCATION

For adequate consideration of the subject matter, it is imperative to do a biometric analysis of myriad of
problems facing Engineering Education in Nigeria even though it is impossible to do a thorough analysis of
all the problems in question in one and only one paper. It will be enough to identify the most urgent of them
some of which are often neglected in serious academic discussions of this nature. These problems include:

2.1 Inadequate Funding from the Federal Government

In Nigeria, the budgetary allocation to education as a share of GDP has tripled since the inception of a
democratic governance in 1999. In 1999, the Federal Ministry of Education’s recurrent budget was 38.3
billion Naira (US$300 Million), in 2006, the Ministry was authorized to spend 129.2 billion Naira US$1.0
Billion). The real value of the 1999 budget on education was about 84.6 billion Naira (i.e. about US$662
million). This amounts to a boost in the purchasing power of the Federal Ministry of Education with an
increase of about 53 percent over eight years (African Human Development, 2006). However, because of
the rise in the demand for engineering education and existing high decadence in the infrastructure, the effect
of the increase in funding could not be noticed substantially. Private universities charge as much as 500,000
Naira ($3906) per student per annum for the same services the Federal universities offer for free. This gives
the private universities an edge over their federal counterparts as they have the wherewithal for
infrastructural developments and for the payment of sustainable wages to their staff thereby forestalling any
unnecessary disruptions in their academic calendar.

Government funding in respect of tertiary education has been very dismal. The government only pays little
attention by providing paltry budgetary allocation for educational programmes and research providing less
than the United Nations recommendation. These have hindered projects and infrastructural developments in
most institution of higher learning. UNESCO recommendation of 26% national budget allocation to
education has continuously been flouted in Nigeria. Presently only 6% of national budget is allocated to
education. Figures 1 and 2 below summarize government allocation to education between 1970 and 2002.
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FIGURE 1. Proportion of total Expenditure Allocated to Education in Nigeria (1970 – 2002)

FIGURE 2. Proportion of Total Budget Allocated to Education in Nigeria (1970 -2002)

2.2 Inadequacy of the Academic Content

The academic content in terms of curriculum is a set of courses required by an engineer in training to take
and pass, and the laboratory/workshop practical programmes he undergoes to become qualified engineer. It
is a blueprint for the training of engineering professionals. A standard engineering curriculum should be
organized in a manner that it accommodates an average of 67% for the theoretical classes and 33% for
laboratory enabling students to develop case studies on their own. A major problem associated with the

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current curricula is the fact that academic programmes are based on foreign ideologies which have evolved
under ideal conditions (staff, equipment, infrastructure, training opportunities, etc) that are not easily
duplicated in developing countries; contending with the shortage of highly competent indigenous teaching
and support staff with sufficiently wide practical experience in the field of engineering.

Most of the available textbooks are often illustrated with examples from outside the local environment
which are irrelevant to our society. The curriculum that produces engineers should not be static but dynamic
i.e. changing with time and relevance. The contents should also be compatible with expectations of the
industry. The noticeable snag in our academic content is the inadequate attention given to technical writings
and presentations. This component is not accorded the necessary and required attention it deserves and this
has translated to the poor writing and communication skills exhibited by many engineering students in our
universities. There are compelling arguments on why Professionals must be good communicators and
writers. First of all, professionals do not work in isolation. They work in teams, consisting of people with
different professional background, knowledge and experiences. Often this communication takes the form of
writing, those engaged with the preparation of the instrument of communication must be skilful in writing,
or the messages sent out would not be understood.

Student, who are required to write laboratory reports, essays, assignments, projects, thesis or reports of
research must not only learn how to write but must be able to write professionally so that their
communication can be effective. It is for these reasons that they need to learn the rudiments of technical
report writing in order for them to write meaningfully and communicate efficiently. The current pedagogic
method of teaching, where lecturers dictate notes to students, without any teaching aids, must be re-
engineered incorporating information and communication technology model to give a more realistic
illustration of what is being taught.

2.3 Staffing Problem

Inadequate number of academic staff both in quality and numerical strength is a contributing factor. Most
programmes that earned Interim accreditation status have problems of inadequate teaching staff. And unless
this inadequacy is addressed, the quality of our graduates would be highly compromised. Secondly, there is
the issue of exodus of engineering staff as their products to other sectors of the economy. For instance, most
of the products of Systems Engineering department are in the banking sector of the economy. Some of the
reasons advanced for this are:
• Lack of periodic review of academic salaries of University staff by the Federal Government.
• Imbalances in salary structure: An academic staff from humanities gets same pay as his counterpart
in Engineering.
• Poor rating of instruments of on-the-job performance such as academic publications which have put
engineering teachers at great disadvantage during promotion exercises.
With due respect to our colleagues in other academic fields, it is imperative that if medical doctors deserve a
better condition of service, so do the engineering professionals. Even if the salary scale remains the same,
some special allowances should be incorporated into the engineering staff salary.

2.4 Poor Infrastructural Facilities

This is evident by lack of adequate teaching spaces e.g. lecture rooms and lecture theatres. The available
lecture rooms are often over-crowded and lack ventilation thereby not making them conducive for teaching
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and learning purposes. Office accommodation for teaching and non-teaching staff of engineering
programmes are not only in short supply, they often fall short of expectations in terms of shapes and size.
The laboratories and workshops are often ill-equipped; while some components/facilities are obsolete. For
an engineer to be well educated, he needs to have a balance between theory and practical. This can be
achieved through well-equipped laboratories and workshops that are regularly updated with facilities so as
to catch up with the pace of technological changes.

2.5 Ill-equipped Library Facilities

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Libraries are collections of books, manuscripts, journals, and other
sources of recorded information. They commonly include reference works, such as encyclopaedias that
provide factual information and indexes that help users find information in other sources; creative works,
including poetry, novels, short stories, music scores, and photographs; nonfiction, such as biographies,
histories, and other factual reports; and periodical publications, including magazines, scholarly journals, and
books published as part of a series. As home use of records, CD-ROMs, and audiotapes and videotapes has
increased, library collections have begun to include these and other forms of media, too.

The Library is an essential education service that helps to build a better informed and well trained engineer.
The major objective of establishing any Library is to provide material and service, which in the nonce and
futurity will contribute to the fulfillment of the making of a qualified engineer. It should provide learning
materials of good quality, quantity and diversity to support research in any engineering field. Books and
other reading materials such as serials, audio-visual resources, periodicals, and e-facilities make up the
major material resources of the library. Unfortunately, most of our libraries lack current journals, relevant
books, not to talk of e-library facilities. A functional University library and a departmental library, design
specifically for the training of engineers in a specialized field are essential for consolidating the teaching of
engineering in our Universities.

2.6. The Disconnect between Classroom and Applications

Engineering curriculum for the training of engineers has two constituents namely; theory and
laboratory/workshop practices. The theory containing chemistry, mathematics, physics and allied subjects
such as control theory, mechatronics and computer science and engineering to mention but a few are meant
to provide a strong intuitive pedestal for innovative designs that may be transformed into useful innovations
that either support research efforts, or solve specific problems in the workshop. However, the interactions
between the lecturers who teach the theory and the technologists who demonstrate at the
laboratory/workshop are almost or outright nonexistent creating a disjoint between the classroom and the
industry thus the universities produce civil engineers who cannot define the link between the jump of a
piecewise continuous function and the expansion joints on the third mainland bridge.

2.7 Intermittent Parental Intrusion into the Educational Structure

The Encarta dictionary refers to Education as impacting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and
learning, especially at a school or similar institution. According to the definition, the existence of
educational institutions other than schools was not foreclosed. The homes are the most basic institutions
which provide the bedrock for formal education, engineering education inclusive. It suffices to claim that
the teachers at homes are the parents. However, there should be a clear partition between the roles of the
home and the school teachers in the training of professional engineers. Although, parents are needed, where
necessary, for successful training of any profession, they are not supposed to intrude into the core of

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engineering education. The current trend where parents coax lecturers into favouring their wards and where
they failed engaged all forms of intimidation to force him to achieve their aim should be eradicated.

2.8 Students’ lack of Will to Invest in their own Future

Some twenty years ago, “Ise Loogun Ise” was the popular slogan of the Yoruba race in western Nigeria.
This translates to “Work is the Antidote to Poverty”. For this reason, it is not out of place for every Yoruba
man who desires a better future to invest his time, energy, financial resources and every God given
endowments to achieve a befitting and enviable future. It is believed that other tribes of Nigeria had such
slogan to have been able to promote hard-work, probity, prudence and crime-free society in the past. The
watchword in the past was Dedication-Determination and Devotion. They constituted the three Ds of life.
Nowadays, to an average student the future does not count. Engineers in training now dwell upon mundane
issues. An average electrical engineering student will purchase a Blackberry handset to be BB compliant
rather than buying a Computer laptop or Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering by Sadoki which would
make him/her a better engineer in the future. He will rather spend his/her time in disco hall dancing than to
spend the same time qualitatively reading and writing laboratory/workshop reports. There is therefore a
need for a re-orientation of our future engineers to preserve the culture of the profession and ultimately the
futurity of the noble profession. A situation where trainers are blamed for the woes of the student engineers
is inimical to healthy growth of engineering.

2.9 Negative Influence of Political Office Holders

From experience, undocumented statistics of students I have interacted with on their plans after graduation
revealed that 40% of potential first class students are willing to travel to Europe and America for
postgraduate studies while the remaining 60% wish that they become successful politicians leaving the
future of the profession in jeopardy. Successful engineers both in and out of academia must act now
considering the exigency of the situation. It is believed that our professor and haughty engineers who have
attained the enviable position in the society will be awakened by this clarion call and bring back the glory of
the profession. The time is indeed now.

2.10 The Erasure of Moral Fabric in Africa

Culture and civilization of Africans were built on strong moral fabric cemented with regards and respect for
stringent norms and traditions. This foundation has become a pedestal upon which the prowess for learning,
conduct and general success of an average African man rests. With the advent of television and other
audiovisual devices many parents have imbibed the western culture so much that their children don’t even
greet them when they wake I the morning. A child who grew up with such attitude does not see a reason
why a lecturer who cannot even afford the kind of car he brings to school should be respected. However,
learning requires gentility, humility, meekness on the part of the student and issuing of regard and respect to
constituted authorities, lecturers inclusive. All these qualities are clearly lacking in most of the students we
train today and the result is what we see in our products.
2.11 The Ill-implemented Industrial Training Programme
The Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) popularly touted Industrial Training must have
been designed to enable students put to use some the theoretical prowess built into the students in order that
they may become world-class engineers. The progenitors of SIWES must have designed the scheme to
engender a mutual benefit between the industry and the academia for the overall promotion of Nigerian
economy. The industry prepares a researchable problem which the students can solve as a team of

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researchers within the six months of the programme. The industrial experience of the students is thus
expected to influence the students’ choices of area of research for their final year project. It is the gains of
the scheme that is expected to arouse the commitment of the industry and create a bilateral relationship
between the academia and the industry. The current practice where students see SIWES as a means to make
quick money is a clear departure from the blueprint of the scheme as designed by its progenitors.

3.0 Prospects and Solutions

The Engineering profession is not static but a dynamic one. It must be adaptable to the needs and aspirations
of the society at any given time. Despite many inadequacies, the teaching of engineering in our Universities
can be improved and sustained if the following points could be considered.
• “Catch Them Young” programme: There is the need to encourage the study of Science subjects at
the Secondary School level; specifically, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Geography.
Stakeholders; Parents/Teachers Association, NGO’s, Government and private Sectors, should seek
for additional and novel ways of encouraging the study and teaching of Science subjects.
• Funding: The Direct Teaching and Laboratory Cost (DTLC) which is used in funding, the
maintenance of equipment in laboratories and workshops is a step in the right direction. But it is
grossly in adequate. There is the need to augment the funding of all laboratories and workshops,
through a special provision in the Education Trust Fund (ETF). The fund would take care of
updating as well as maintenance of current facilities.
• The COREN, NUC, and Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, are expected to work out
modalities and proposals on this to increase fund allocation to DTLC of engineering programmes
and to generally increase the funding profile of engineering programmes in our institutions.
• Boosting the Morale of Teaching Staff: A conducive working environment should be provided for
both academic staff and their non academic counterpart couple with payment of sustainable wages.
• Improved Teaching Methodologies: The traditional method of teaching where a teacher stands by
the white board writing theorems and proofs, dictating notes, giving examples of innovations in the
western world without necessarily linking the theories with the given examples. Innovative methods
such as the Team Based Learning (TBL), Redwood-Sawyerr (2010); the Problems Based Learning
(PBL), Achi, (2010) and the Dynamic PBL, Achi et al (2010). Teaching aids supported by easy to
handle software such as Microsoft Excel and Polymath software for solving engineering
mathematical problems such as differential equations should be introduced into engineering
curriculum. The model of Cutlip, M.B., (2010) is recommended. Teaching should be enterprising
and it should encourage students to aspire to become an engineering teacher and still be relevant to
the industrial setting.
• SIWES should be redesigned in such a way as to accommodate the problems of the industry which
the students must solve in stages and the inputs made by individual students should be the yardstick
for scoring the students performance at end of the programme. This will enable the industry to made
adequate budget for the students since the industry expect benefits from the students. The students in
turn benefit since it gives them the needed exposure to the procedural processes solve real-life
problems from their conception to finished products. This must be pursued with vigour.
• Professional ethics should be taught to engineering students at the inception of their degree
programme when the zeal to learn is still in them and not when they have become unbendable at 400
level or 500 level. Ethics are simply moral values that are sound. These values are truth, honesty,
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and trust worthiness; respect for human life and human welfare, including the life and welfare of
future generations; a sense of fair play; and transparency and competence, Atume (2010). If our
future engineers would realize the true meaning of ethics and imbibe it then the profession will soon
attain its enviable position among both the elites and hoipolloi. Reputation is what you are supposed
to be; character is what you are when nobody but God is looking (Anderson: 1968). According
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), it is easier to cope with a bad conscience than with a bad
reputation. We must therefore build a good reputation for our profession.
The prospects of engineering profession in Nigeria are, to say the least enormous since the whole of Nigeria
is a work space for engineers. Every profession whether an emerging or existing one builds on engineering.
Before an engineer would require the services of a medical doctor, the physician would have patronized an
array of engineers and engineering innovations ranging from the stethoscope to the building that houses the
clinic. A communicator cannot communicate effectively without engineering. My little sojourn as a council
member in Kwara State Polytechnic was revealing. Several solar devices ranging from solar cooker to
cassava drier were produced. The polytechnic produced a tricycle that is stronger than all of the Keke
NAPEP and Keke Maruwa that are found in Lagos streets to mention but a few. With escalating costs of
iron rod putting the cost of home construction out of the reach of commoners, civil engineering graduate
could harness the existing outcomes of research efforts on bamboo concrete afterall railways bridges were
built with wonder grass in China. From hairdressing equipment to the exploitation of renewable energy
options for lighting and sundry purposes, engineering provides the tools. The technology required to seal
pure water sachet is one that will not only sell but will also provide job for teaming unemployed youth.

4.0 CONCLUSION
In this paper I have attempted to excavate the seemingly insignificant problems militating against effective
training of professional engineers in Africa. An engineer is the one who identifies problems of other
professions and proffers suitable solution(s) to such problems. To achieve this feat, an engineer needs to be
constantly keep abreast of modernization to keep pace with the science and technological changes that do
not just evolve, but in many cases have been created and revolutionized within the span of an engineer's
career. To this end, a futuristic engineer, who will contribution meaningfully to development must receive
qualitative basic engineering education and to ensure that the standard of quality engineering training in
Nigeria takes a progressive turn, these aforementioned problems must be redressed.

ACKNOWLEGEMENT
I would like to express my profound gratitude to S.O. Ajala of the department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering of the University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria for her contributions to the success of the work.

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2011. O.O.E. AJIBOLA

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