COREN Welcomes NIWA Team to Strengthen Maritime and Waterways Regulation
The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) today, 18 November 2025, received in audience, a team from the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), led by Mrs Tracy Obienu, at the COREN Headquarters in Abuja.
Discussion centred on strengthening cooperation between both agencies, especially around the enforcement of statutory requirements for engineering activities within Nigeria’s inland waterways and rights-of-way. NIWA had earlier raised concerns over persistent non-compliance by some engineering and construction companies operating in these corridors and requested COREN’s intervention to help ensure accountability, professional discipline and alignment with national regulatory frameworks.
During the meeting, the President of COREN, Engr. Prof. Sadiq Z. Abubakar, FNSE, FAEng, appreciated the NIWA delegation and described the visit as a welcome step toward deeper inter-agency synergy. He mentioned that COREN had already begun internal discussions on the same matter, including earlier deliberations with the Managing Director of NIWA. According to him, both organisations had agreed that effective implementation would require signing an MoU and expanding the collaboration to include NIMASA, since some of the responsibilities in question intersect with their mandate as well. He hinted that bringing the three agencies together might just create the kind of strong, unified force needed for monitoring and enforcement across the maritime and inland waterways space.
The Registrar of COREN, Engr. Prof. Okorie Austin Uche, FNICE, also weighed in, giving a brief background on COREN’s regulatory role and how it links with NIWA’s mandate, especially in the area of Engineering Regulation, Monitoring and Enforcement (ERM&E) for maritime-related engineering activities. His remarks helped set the context for what stronger collaboration could look like going forward.
The visit reinforced a shared commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s waterways, promoting professional discipline and building a more coordinated regulatory environment for engineering practice.
18/11/2025
