By John Ikani
Twenty-nine young Nigerians recently showcased various specialized skills they had acquired in the one year training organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Waltersmith Group Limited, a leading integrated energy company.
The exercise was the Nigerian Content Non-Compliance remediation training mandated by the NCDMB for companies that flout certain provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act.
The training programme covered Project Management, Scrum Master, Quality Management System, ISO 9001:2015, Mechanical Engineering Design, Welding and Fabrication, Mobile Crane Operation, and Plumbing and Pipe-fitting.
General courses studied in the programme included Entrepreneurship, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Digital Skills, Nigerian Content Awareness, Health and Safety Work, and Introduction to Oil and Gas/Engineering Materials.
At the close-out ceremony held on Thursday, attended by Management staff of both companies, the graduands, who had designed and built devices such as pipe rollers, pipe vices, bell rollers, pressure vessels, and phone charger heads, made detailed presentations on the contents of their training programme.
Speaking at the event, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), NCDMB, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu, represented by the Manager, M&E, Engr. Kopiam Adike, said the completion of the training programme signalled in-country value addition, which was of strategic significance to Nigeria.
He noted that until the enactment of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, 2010, and subsequent establishment of the NCDMB, such specialised skills as they have acquired were lacking in the country, resulting in the dominance of the oil and gas industry by foreigners and the associated capital flight.
According to him, with the training provided by Dexterous Training Institute, a leading internationally certified indigenous organisation, “Skills have been developed and gaps have been closed.”
He pointed out that other young Nigerians who had undergone similar programmes organised and sponsored by NCDMB in partnership with other oil and gas companies are doing well in the industry in Nigeria and abroad, citing the case of a Nigerian expertly handling Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) in Angola, and others in Nigeria working offshore in such highly technical operations as “Dynamic Positioning.”
He charged the graduands to make the best of what they had acquired, bearing in mind that character and sound work ethics are required for steady progress in their endeavours. “As you leave this training,” he noted, “it’s only a beginning,”
The Lead Advisor, External Affairs and Government Relations of Waltersmith Group, Mrs. Sarah Ajuonuma, said her organisation is “happy to be part of the Nigerian Content success story” and that they were looking forward to “positive outcomes” from exercises such as the training programme.
She said the graduands demonstrated “a lot dedication and enthusiasm” all through the training and expressed the confidence of the company Management that they would acquit themselves well in their future endeavours.
For their own part, the trainers, Dexterous Applied Training Institute, thanked the NCDMB for the opportunity to contribute to in-country capacity building and also praised the graduands for their good conduct throughout the programme.
The Training Manager, Engr. Dumam Abila, advised them on essential qualities they must demonstrate in whatever business they got engaged in, stating, “Whatever you are doing you must have quality at the back of your mind.” To the female graduands, he said, it was gladdening to find them “in a space [Engineering] such as this.” He exhorted them to understand they could excel as much as their male counterparts.
In other comments on the event, a Manager of NCDMB’s M&E, Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, advised the graduands to broaden their knowledge and sharpen their skills further to be able to be competitive in the industry.
The graduands took turns to express their appreciation to the Board and Waltersmith Group for the opportunities they were provided to acquire specialised skills and promised to be good ambassadors of the organisations wherever they found themselves.
