By YANGE IKYAA
The Nigerian Institution of Safety Engineers, NISafetyE, a division of the Society of Engineers (NSE) has conferred her coveted Fellowship Award on a prominent Oil and Gas Consultant, Dr. Wisdom Enang, who already doubles as a Chartered Engineer with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.
The Fellowship conferment, which was the 5th in the series, coincided with the Inauguration of the 3rd National Executive Committee of the Institution, and the Investiture of Engr. Akaninyene Ekong (MNSE, FNISafetyE), as the National Chairman of the group on Saturday, February 5, at the Ibom Icon Hotel and Golf Resort, Uyo, with doyens of the Engineering profession, Captains of Industries, eminent Traditional Rulers and prominent Statesmen across the Country, in attendance.
Dr. Enang who was the Guest Speaker at the well-attended event, said most Engineering failures occurred as a result of safety negligence in design, which in turn presented difficulties in managing risks. In his speech themed, “Safety Standards and Procedures, the Bedrock of Engineering System of Practice (An Upstream Oil and Gas Case), Dr. Wisdom Enang stressed that safety standards are essential ethical requirements in Engineering practice, informing that Engineers have the ethical responsibility to develop safe designs using recommended standards.
“Engineering failure presents opportunities for identifying and managing the risk associated with the failure, due to negligence of safety, especially in the design phase”, he said. Dr. Enang in his presentation, also demystified safety as being more of a scenario-based Art than a Science, and called for more collaboration among safety professionals and firms, in a statement which read “Safety is not proprietary and exclusive, it is everyone’s business”.Quoting Christina Phang, Engr. Enang revealed that safety measures should be included as early as possible in any project lifecycle. He further emphasised that doing so will form the basis or bedrock of not just engineering designs, but other project phases and lifecycle. He defined standards in line with the International Organisation for Standardization, as “a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that products, materials, processes and services are fit for their purpose”, intoning that this was different from procedures, which entailed a step-by -step process of getting work done.
The United Kingdom trained PhD holder exhaustively and elaborately discussed Safety Standards, Engineering Process and Safety, Safety in Engineering designs, Safety Factor Requirement, Safety Criteria, Feedback Mechanism, Multiple Safety barriers and Risk Management. Other areas he extensively expounded were Safety Hazards Analysis in Engineering practice, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, and Fault Tree Analysis. While summarizing his points, Dr. Enang highlighted vividly that Safety Regulation was a function of International Standards, and Regional best practices, and called on the Nigerian Society of Safety Engineers to bridge the existing safety regulatory gap, by leading efforts on the research and development of communiques to law makers, on regional best practices for various engineering activities.
A peep into Dr. Wisdom Enang’s profile shows he currently serves as an Operations Engineering Consultant to a major Oil and Gas firm, and is in charge of the operations and maintenance of 24 shallow water oil and gas assets in Nigeria. Prior to this, Dr. Enang served as an engineering technical lead, responsible for the project management and design engineering oversight for more than 20 oil and gas execution projects between 2015 and 2020. The scope of responsibilities under his leadership included: Integrity restoration for brownfield projects; Front-End Engineering Design (FEED); and detailed engineering design for greenfield projects.
Delivering his welcome address, the immediate past Chairman of the NISafetyE, Engr. Azuka Emeasoba FNSE, recalled how he came in as president two years ago, with a lot of ideas on how to leave some indelible marks towards the growth of the Institution. He however lamented that his tenure was almost marred by the unfortunate outbreak of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, which he said had negatively affected the Institution’s activities within the time in review. The outgone Chairman appreciated members of the Institution “especially the EXCO members who made my regime worth these efforts”, and urged them to continue lending their support to the institution, and its new leadership.
On his part, the newly sworn-in Chairman, Engr. Akaninyene Ekong FNISafetyE, promised to lead the way towards addressing the plethora of problems bedevilling Safety Engineering practice in Nigeria. He reiterated that the thrust of his administration will centre on PRESS, an acronym for Professional Development, Research and Publications, Expansion, Safety Regulation, and Social Engineering.
Engr. Ekong harped on the broadness of his policy thrust, but said it will serve as a guide for the next 24 months. He also thanked all those who have impacted his life, and helped him to become the man he is today, promising not to disappoint them.
This event was heavily graced by the President Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari-Wudil (FNSE); the President Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, Engr. Ali Alimasuya Rabiu, (FNSE, FNISafetyE); the Pioneer National Chairman, Nigerian Institution of Safety Engineers, Engr. A. B. Oyedepo; the Immediate past National Chairman, Engr. Azuka Emeasoba; the Chairman of Ibom Power Company Limited, Engr. Etido Inyang; the Managing Director of the same Company, Engr. Meyen Etukudo; the Registrar of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, Engr. Prof. Joseph O. Odigure; the Paramount Ruler of Eket, His Royal Majesty Edidem E.C.D Abia (FCA); the Paramount Ruler of Uyo, His Royal Majesty Edidem Sylvanus Okon; and many other dignitaries.