CEM REPORT, ENERGY | The Institute of Power Engineers of Nigeria has come into full status following the assent on Monday 22, 2023 to the bill as passed by the 9th National Assembly by former President Muhammadu Buhari which raised the institute to its chartered status.
The rigorous journey to the chartered status of the Institute can best be described as audacious when viewed from the perspective of the Institute leadership that worked it through, as well as imperative when viewed from the perspective of the state of the sector which yearns for coordinated attention and pragmatic actions.
To say the least, the power sector is one so critical and at the center of the development of the Nigerian economy, but being bedeviled by interests that have remained in a mist and keeping the entire economy in a vicious circle of unproductivity.
The hopes are now high regarding, first and foremost, the build-up and organization of local expertise for the Nigerian power sector where foreign expatriates have over the years believed to only poses the required skills and knowledge.
Engr Israel Abraham – President, CIPEN
As in other climes, the Chartered institute of Power Engineers of Nigeria takes center stage in the affairs of the power sector in consistence with other sectors such as banking sector centrally regulated by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, the health sector where you have Nigerian Medical Association at the center stage and the many others.
This has been the pursuit by the leadership of the Institute led by the President, Engr Israel Abraham.
Chartered institute of Power Engineers of Nigeria has assumed the “Subject Matter Experts to legitimately interrogate the activities of the Nigerian Electric Power Sector, self-regulate their Practice so as to ring-fence the sector from quacks and misfits while providing professional advice on the Sector for the benefit of Country and humanity.
A major misfit about the Nigerian power sector is the continuous appointment of persons without an aortal of engineering knowledge to held the Power Ministry. It is in so much a professional aberration to appoint a journalist to held the Health ministry in the same manner that Lawyer is appointed to held the Power Ministry.
The technical skills required and needed to make any progress in the power sector can only be provided by a power engineer who understand the nitty gritty of the power system. The Chartered Institute of Power Engineers by its current status should provide a robust knowledge-based platform where sufficient knowledge will be acquired to transform the industry.
In a phone conversation with Engr Israel Abraham, he communicated strongly the fast pace at which the Institute is strengthening its structures, expanding its platforms and harmonizing its sensitization strategies to get power sector acquainted with its mandates as now bequeathed on them by law.
He insisted that by law, experts in any sector or industry are in charge to make things work. He said “by law, financial experts are in charge of the financial sector, legal experts are in charge of the justice system, medical/health professionals are in charge of the health sector and so on. So as from this moment, by law, power engineers are in charge of the power industry”.
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It now means that CIPEN alongside its members are expected to be taking responsibility as natural Arbiters for the Success and Failures that may happen in the Nigerian Electric Power Sector. This entails the following among others;
- Creating a veritable group and platform for the harmonization of thoughts of all Power Industry Professionals towards the achieving National goals, the Nigerian dream of a sustainable and efficient Power industry
- Curating sector or industry Professional that eliminates the gap of Professionalism presently existing in NESI
- Creating a breed of capable & competent industry specialist on power to draw from or confer with when NESI or the sector is the discourse.
- Eliminating quacks, misfits and non-Professionals from the sector and bringing to bear the ethics of Professional Practice
- Absolute elimination of vandals since everyone involved in the industry must have an identity with the Institute with respect to their specific areas of their involvement (Sales, manufacturing, Professional services, design and engineering, etc), like the pharmacist.
- Management of Professionalism for any Profession is the responsibility of Practitioners themselves while forming partnership and collaboration with Government, government Agencies, allied and global professional players in entrenching industry best practices and ethics
- Serve as the unified VOICE for electric power engineering practitioners in Nigeria.
- Serve in all situations as the independent Arbiter among all players in the industry, the repository of historical records and custodian of Professional Practice.
- Serve as the engine room for the supporting to research and development of power Engineering indigenization and domestication