The president of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Ali Rabiu, has urged engineers to deploy innovation, systems thinking, and technology-driven methodologies in the government’s efforts to address Nigeria’s insecurity challenges.

Mr Rabiu made the call during a webinar to mark the 2026 World Engineering Day celebration on Wednesday.

He said smart engineering involves the application of advanced technologies and innovative design approaches to create systems, products and structures that are efficient, sustainable and interconnected.

According to Mr Rabiu, without urgent intervention, safety deficits will continue to undermine GDP growth, foreign direct investment, job creation, infrastructure sustainability and public trust in governance.

Mr Rabiu explained that their active involvement in forward-thinking ideas was crucial and that NSE would ensure they were positioned to lead their counterparts globally.

He noted that his administration expected young engineers to think creatively and develop solutions that would benefit the country and humanity at large.

He said they should begin to demonstrate their readiness to carry forward NSE’s institutional goals of promoting engineering professionalism, strengthening technical competence and fostering good governance.

Rabiu commended UNESCO’s initiative in establishing the global platform and appreciated the sustained efforts of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations in driving the World Engineering Day programme over the years.

He described the platform as instrumental in promoting engineering excellence and collaboration across borders.

The keynote speaker, Hilary Owamah, deputy vice-chancellor (academic) at Delta University, Abraka, said smart engineering, driven by innovation and digitalisation, remained the defining solution to Nigeria’s development challenges.

Mr Owamah said, “The fundamental question before us is: can we engineer growth without engineering collapse? The answer lies in smart engineering. Smart engineering represents the intelligent integration of engineering science, digital intelligence, data-driven systems and sustainability principles. It is engineering that predicts, adapts and optimises.”

Mr Owamah said that Nigeria possessed world-class engineering capacity. However, what is required is scale, integration and sustainability.

He stressed that sustainability is no longer a policy aspiration but an engineering mandate.

He noted that smart engineering would curb environmental degradation, enabling the design of flood-resilient infrastructure, optimising energy consumption, real-time monitoring of water systems, and predicting structural failures before catastrophe.

He further stressed that the sustainability of smart engineering depended on education and called on universities to produce engineers digitally fluent, innovation-driven, systems-oriented and ethically grounded.

He called on NSE to intensify efforts in promoting digital competence, strengthening professional standards, encouraging research and innovation, influencing policy direction and building global partnerships.

(NAN)