Lagos: A professional association, the Muslim Engineers Association (TMEA), on Saturday charged engineers to place competence, accountability, and public safety above personal gains. The National President, TMEA, Engr Gbadegesin Osuolale, made the call at the inauguration of TMEA’s pioneer National President and National Executive Council in Lagos.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the event had the theme, ‘Engineering Excellence, Ethical Leadership and Service To Humanity Through Islamic Values.’ Osuolale stressed that Engineering is fundamentally a profession built on public trust; therefore, professionals must reject unethical pressure from contracts, politics, and personal interests in professional practice. He further emphasized that TMEA would promote engineering professionalism, ethical leadership, mentorship, and collaboration, guided by Islamic values.
Osuolale stated that the association would reach out to Muslim engineers across Nigeria and encourage them to use their expertise to address national development challenges. TMEA will focus on mentorship, research, emerging technologies, and practical solutions across energy, housing, transportation, water, agriculture, and manufacturing. He highlighted the importance of recognizing that every structure, system, software, and technology designed by engineers could affect lives and remain in use for generations.
The Grand Imam of Lagos State, Sheik Sulaimon Abu-Nolla, remarked that Engineering is a profession of trust because virtually every aspect of modern life depends on engineers’ work. He urged engineers to work consciously and responsibly, saying professional ethics should extend beyond regulatory requirements to personal accountability before God. The cleric cited poorly constructed and maintained infrastructure as evidence of how professional negligence could undermine public confidence and waste resources.
Dr Ibraheem Abdul, the Keynote Speaker and Rector of Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), focused on the ethical implications of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, drones, the Internet of Things, and autonomous systems. Abdul warned engineers against treating technology as an excuse to escape responsibility when automated systems make harmful or biased decisions. He emphasized the need for engineers to ask who controls data, how systems make decisions, and who bears responsibility when technology produces harmful outcomes.
The Chairman of the Inauguration Planning Committee, Mr Kamoru Adebisi, in his welcome address, highlighted that the gathering was not ceremonial but a new phase of leadership and responsibility for the association. The event’s highlight was the inauguration of the new executives, with Mr Gbadegesin Osuolale as President; Mr Kamoru Adebisi as Vice President; and Mr Tajudeen Kolade as Deputy President, among others.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria