The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has inaugurated a high-level committee to fast-track the operationalisation of its Centre for Skills Development and Training (CSDT), Port Harcourt, amid concerns over shortages of qualified Nigerian technical manpower in the oil and gas industry.
The committee, inaugurated in Abuja by the Executive Secretary of PTDF, Prof. Shuaibu Aliyu, is expected to review the Centre’s operational systems, develop industry-driven curricula and establish stronger pathways linking technical training with internships, apprenticeships, employment and entrepreneurship.
Aliyu said the Centre was conceived following a PTDF skills audit which identified significant gaps in the availability of qualified Nigerian technical manpower, particularly at the technical and middle-level occupational categories of the oil and gas industry.
He said the committee would identify gaps in the Centre’s existing systems and operations and develop practical recommendations to ensure that the facility is fully utilised.
According to him, the CSDT, which is about 98 per cent complete, is designed to deliver competency-based vocational training and internationally recognised certifications to technicians, artisans and craftsmen.
Training areas at the Centre include welding and fabrication, electrical works, industrial safety, automobile maintenance and heavy-duty equipment maintenance.
Aliyu said the facility comprises an administrative building, auditorium, library, hostels, staff quarters, canteen, power and water infrastructure, among other facilities.
While awaiting full operationalisation, he said, the Centre had already been used for activities under PTDF’s Overseas Scholarship Scheme and In-Country Scholarship Scheme, as well as training programmes organised by institutions including the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The committee’s mandate includes developing an operational policy and management framework for the Centre; designing competency-based curricula aligned with industry requirements; recommending training, assessment and certification systems; and establishing sustainable partnerships with government agencies, regulators, educational institutions, professional bodies, operators and service companies.
It is also expected to prepare an implementation framework specifying timelines, responsibilities, monitoring indicators and reporting mechanisms.
Responding on behalf of the committee, its
Chairman, Prof. Emmanuel Kachikwu, thanked PTDF for the confidence reposed in the members, pledging to deliver a comprehensive review and framework for the Centre’s operationalisation.
Kachikwu said skills development remained critical to economic growth, greater local participation in the energy value chain and Africa’s effective participation in the global energy transition.
Members of the committee include Chairman of the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), Mr Christopher Osarunwense; representative of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr Folorunsho Akande; Chief Executive Officer of Green Energy International, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe and President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Festus Osifo.
Others are Prof. Mohammed Dauda of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Prof. Ayodele Ajayi of the Federal University of Technology, Akure; representatives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), including Zainab Dutse and Professor Gobir; Mrs V.U. Akpagher of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC); and Dr Sani Mohammed of Kaduna Polytechnic.
Representatives of Dangote Refinery, the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) and other key stakeholder organisations are also members of the committee.
PTDF said the committee’s combined expertise would provide the strategic direction required to strengthen the Centre’s programmes, deepen industry integration and advance its mandate of developing human and institutional capacity for Nigeria’s energy sector.
