BIRTH OF THE SOCIETY

The Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) had its early beginnings in 1969 initiated by a group of Nigerian Chemical Engineers who trained abroad and returned to Nigeria to practice. The initial idea was conceived by Engr. Olu Awoyinfa and Engr. Ayo Solanke who were Process Engineers at Lever Brothers Nigeria Limited (now Unilever Nigeria Plc). They discussed the idea with their boss, Engr. Anthony O. Shobo, who gave his blessing. Preliminary meetings were held at the residence of Engr. Shobo and when the place became inadequate, they moved to British Petroleum (BP) House at Broad Street Lagos. (British Petroleum later changed to African Petroleum which has now become Forte Oil Plc). 

At the inaugural meeting, the following officers were elected to run the affairs of the new Society:

Our Core Values are
Professionalism and Excellence Commitment, Dedication and Loyalty Professional Ethics and Standards Integrity and Accountability Care for Members Welfare Respect for the Rule of Law

FORMAL INCORPORATION

On 3rd December 1981, the informal group decided to be registered as a professional body to be known as the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers under the provisions of the Companies Act of 1968.

GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

The affairs of the Society are managed by the National Executive Council and the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors comprises the National President, Deputy National President, Immediate Past President, Executive Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Publicity Secretary and Assistance Publicity Secretary. The Executive Council of the Society comprises the Board of Directors, Past Presidents, Internal Auditors, Chapters’ Chairmen, Council Committees’ Chairmen and Chairmen of Subsidiaries. Among other duties and responsibilities, the Council is responsible to the Society for the direction and control of its affairs in fulfillment of the objectives laid down in the Memorandum, general policy for the conduct of the Society in conformity with the intensions of the members. The Council draws up yearly reports on the state of the Society which are presented at the Annual General Meeting. Contributions to this reports come from Council membership.

The Board is responsible to the Council and acts as an executive body to implement all matters that may be delegated to it by the Council. The Board has responsibility for overseeing the management and administration of the Society’s affairs while the day-to- day management of the National Secretariat is under the charge of the Executive Secretary. The Society has 12 State Chapters spread nationwide in Nigeria while the 13 th Chapter is the NSChE USA Chapter. The Student Chapters so far granted Charter Status by NSChE Council are located in more than 30 tertiary institutions offering Chemical Engineering programme of studies in Nigeria.

NSChE/NSE MERGER

Formal merger talks between Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) and Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) started in 1979. At the inaugural meeting, the NSChE was represented by late Engr. D. A. Adeyemo, the then National President and Dr. O. O. Omatete, National Secretary while NSE team was headed by Engr. (Dr.) F. A. Shonubi. Subsequent NSChE Presidents, after Engr. Adeyemo, made various contributions towards the merger effort but not much was achieved until the 1995 AGM when the resolution was taken and the merger proposal was approved.

The merger instrument was eventually signed on 5 th June 1999. The President who signed the merger agreement between NSE and NSChE were Engr. Charles Mbanefo, FNSE, and Engr. Joseph J. Akpieyi, FNSChE respectively. The signing ceremony was preceded by a well-attended dinner at Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ikeja, Lagos. At that ceremony, Engr. A. O. Shobo, FNSChE was decorated with a broach of the Fellow of NSE on behalf of the Fellows of NSChE. According to the terms of the merger, financial members of NSChE automatically became members of the NSE at corresponding grades in NSChE up to 31/12/98 as cut-off date. Also the terms of the merger allowed NSChE to continue to run its affairs but with the addition of the phrase “A Division of NSE” to its name.

NSChE FOUNDATION

The NIGERIAN SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS FOUNDATION is the brain child of the first “visioning” exercise undertaken by the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers - NSChE’s Vision 2020 project. This was under the presidency of Engr. J. J. Akpieyi, FNSChE.

The Foundation, in addition to providing the NSChE with a stable pool of funds for her projects, was conceived to have the following as main objectives:

Creation of a permanent framework to serve as a major contributor to the resources which will make the NSChE a virile professional body in the 21 st century. Provision of a vehicle for Chemical Engineers and friends of the profession to demonstrate their commitment to, and support for the profession and creation of a focal point for Government, multilateral agencies, corporate bodies and Foundations to support projects designed by the NSChE to benefit the chemical process industry, the academia and the society at large. The NSChE Council, at its meeting of 10 th July 1999 approved the establishment of the NSChE Foundation and set up a 15 member (later expanded to 18 members) Foundation Committee (NFC) with Dr. T. M. John, FNSChE as Chairman.

The NFC was inaugurated on 13 th August 1999 and subsequently produced the blue print for establishment of NSChE Foundation. The blue-print (technically the Constitution) formed the basis for registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and setting up of the inaugural Board of Trustees.

The first swearing in exercise for the inaugural Board was done on 8 th February 2001 and it comprised the following:

The NSChE Foundation clocked 10 years in 2011 and a colourful Dinner and Award ceremony were carried out on 5 th October 2011 at Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ikeja to mark the event. The Foundation has lived to its mandate of serving as a major contributor to the resources of the Society. It is also gradually being positioned to facilitate capacity building in the departments of Chemical Engineering in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

DYNAMIC POISE FOR THE SOCIETY

With continued national spread of Chapters buttressed by a strong Chapter in United States of America, a strong Subsidiary such as the NSChE Foundation, proposed creation of a robust e- Resource Web-Portal in the National Secretariat, a viable Training Department , formation of Sectoral Groups and the determination to build its own Secretariat, the Society is poised to turning its vision stated thus: "To be the Centre of Excellence for the Chemical Engineering Profession in Africa and the Prime Mover of Industrialization in Nigeria" into reality in a few years to come.