The Nation Newspaper

Tag: training

  • Training for eight BSU dons

    For participating actively in programmes organised by Tuning Africa Phase II project, Benue State University (BSU) has been selected as one of 14 universities to train academics in capacity building.

    Tuning Africa is a collaborative, consultative project involving academics working in subject groups with employers and other stakeholders in curriculum development to enhance students’ competences.

    The programme is aimed at organising and providing opportunities for African universities with capacity  to design  and  develop curricula,  provide  opportunities for generation of additional resources and support effective and productive networking.

    General meetings have benn held for the project, an initiative of the “Africa-EU Strategic Partnership” in Accra, Ghana; Cairo, Egypt and Brussels, Belgium.

    For   BSU,   the   opportunity came when the organisation provided a window for African universities to compete for a few vacancies in the second phase of the project.  The BSU won the award to compete after a keen competition.

    The university won with a proposal on a programme in Masters in Technology Education, following   which Prof Emmanuel Echor, Head Department of Curriculum and Teaching, represented the university in Cairo at the inaugural meeting between October 12  and 14 2015.

    Having successfully participated in three editions of the programme, he was handed the group’s franchise to train more academics with the aim of creating opportunities for staff and students’ mobility within and outside African universities for both learning and employment.

    Of the 14 universities in Nigeria that are enrolled for the project, Benue State is one of the two state   owned universities, whose proposals admitted them into the prestigious scheme.

    Academics in BSU, who participated in the programme organised by the Department   of   Education   Curriculum and who were presented certificates included, Prof Emmanuel Achor; Dr Joseph Obida; Dr Benedict Labe; Dr Naomi Doki; Dr Terungwa Adzende; Dr Bernard Tyubee and Dr Chris Orngu.

    At a ceremony where the participants were formally presented their certificates, the Head of Department praised their perseverance while on the programme.

    The   Dean,   Faculty   of   Education,   Prof   Batur   Gbenda   Laha,, expressed hope that more lecturers in the university will be accorded the opportunity to participate in the programme.

    He also implored the Head of Department to incorporate aspects of the programme into the course content of the Faculty to enable more lecturers without Professional teaching qualification hone their skills.

    The Vice-Chancellor,   Prof Msugh Moses Kembe, represented by  Deputy Vice- Chancellor (Academic), Prof Edward Agbo Omudu, urged the participants to ensure that their acquired knowledge permeates down the ladder.

    Tuning Africa project is intended to reach out to higher institutions in Africa and the rest of the world to produce graduates that will be comparable in knowledge acquired in their   discipline   by   raising   comparable   objectives,   learning   outcomes   (using   generic competencies) that are focused on what the learner should be able to do.

    With   this, Tuning projects   programmes will create possibility for staff and students mobility within and outside Africa and make graduates generally employable wherever they find themselves.

  • NOUN VC seeks training for teachers

    THE Vice Chancellor, National Open  University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof Abdallah Uba Adamu, has said training of teachers must be prioritised for quality and standard to be achieved in basic and secondary educational institutions.

    “This will open window for teachers to be more professional and ready to drive the sector with purpose”, he said.

    Speaking Tuesday in Sokoto at the opening of a three-day workshop for  Head Teachers and Principals of Junior Secondary Schools, Adamu said building teachers’ capacity was critical in view of the growing challenges in the nation’s basic and secondary education levels.

    The workshop held at the auditorium of the Sultan Maccido Institute for Quranic and General Studies  was organised by NOUN in collaboration with the Sokoto State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

    However, the workshop is coming on the heels of  a date line issued by NTI for teachers to be professionals.

    According to him, such training would broaden the scope of teachers contributions and  as well strengthen their efforts at delivering quality and standard teaching as professionals.

    “It will also boost and smoothen learning process of pupils”, he said.

    Adamu, who was represented by the DVC Academic, Prof Joy Eyisi, said it was imperative to build teachers capacity to support the drive for attaining development in the education sector.

    “It will guarantee  the success and future of generations,” he said.

    Declaring the workshop open, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, represented by the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Muhammadu Jabbi Kilgori, said the state government had always accorded priority to education through robust approach to ensure quality teaching in schools at all levels.

    “We have made training and retraining for capacity building of teachers a no going back priority.”

    Besides, Tambuwal explained that motivation, teachers’ welfare, and promotion, prompt payment of salaries and provision of basic facilities in schools  were key and dear to his administration.

    “Making all these available would have solved over 70 per cent of the problems.

    “We have also effectively put in place an active monitoring and evaluation mechanism to assess performance for routine reports”, he stated.

    Earlier, the SUBEB Chairman, Alhaji Bello Yusuf Danchadi, disclosed that it had concluded plans to train 3,374  teachers to improve their capacity in teaching and learning.

    According to him, SUBEB accords importance to capacity building for teachers to meet the dynamic challenges, stressing that the training programme in liaison with NTI  would further improve their skills and provide platform for better learning by pupils.

     

     

  • Obaze banks on his experience, training

    Obaze banks on his experience, training

    Though the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is going into the governorship election in Anambra State as a divided house, its flag bearer, Mr. Oseloka Obaze, is optimistic that he will win. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE looks at the chances of the technocrat-turned politician. 

    The battle cry of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Oseloka Henry Obaze in the November 18 governorship election in Anambra State is that “Anambra Deserves Better!” As someone who has been close to the corridors of power in the state in the last 10 years, he believes that the state under Governor Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has not fully realized its potentials.

    Given his training and experience, Obaze believes he understand the role of leadership and good governance in the delivery of services, unfettered development and managing expectations. He said good governance rests on frugal management of resources, operating within available resources and equitable distribution of such resources via prioritisation.

    He added: “Positive growth cannot be sustained without strategic thinking, visionary planning and guided implementation of purposeful policies that serve as the bedrock for effective programmes and projects. Enduring prosperity is infinitely predicated on solid and enduring development frameworks. I have written and spoken about pruning the cost of governance and achieving more through joint interstate ventures, which our leaders seem averse to.”

    The former United Nations’ official and ex-Secretary to the Anambra State government under former Governor Peter Obi and incumbent Willie Obiano, respectively, wants to replicate the feat achieved by the state with millennium development goals (MDGs) under the administration of former Governor Peter Obi, which he was a part. He said: “My programme of action is encapsulated within the framework of the sustainable development goals. These basically cover all aspects of human and societal development – at the micro and macro levels — including agriculture, commerce and industry, education, health, security and infrastructure.”

    In this regard, Obaze wants to leverage on his good relationship with international development partners to attract support for his government, if he is elected on November 18. His words: “The world is increasingly assuming the character of a global village where best practices determine who makes the most progress and stays ahead of others. If I am elected governor, I will leverage on my international contacts and goodwill to attract varied international support for our programmes and projects.

    “You will recall that during the tenure of Mr. Peter Obi, several development partners and donor agencies took active interest in the state’s development model – Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS), which ensured simultaneous development in all critical sectors of the economy and society. Beyond the international arena, I will explore and pursue collaborative ventures with the federal and other state governments for the public and private sectors alike. My administration will not be restricted to the public sector, but extend to supporting the private sector to grow and develop. In the final analysis, the public and private sectors involve Anambrarians one way or the other.”

    Obaze defeated businessman, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, Senator Stella Oduah and Dr. Alex Obiogbolu, to emerge the candidate of the party at the primary that took place in Awka on August 28. He polled 672 votes out of the estimated 950 votes cast by the special delegates that were elected for the primary.

    The PDP flag bearer is set to confront Governor Obiano; Dr. Tony Nwoye of the All Progressives Congress (APC); and Chief Osita Chidoka of the United Progressives Party (UPP), among others. Obaze believes that he is eminently qualified “to do better than the sad experience we have had in the last three years or so”. He said: “Aside from my worldview, my service as Secretary to Anambra State Government – particularly in the administration of Mr. Peter Obi — afforded me the opportunity to contribute to the welfare of my people. Outside my work in the office, I was in the field on special assignments that took me through the bush, mud and floods to provide relief and rehabilitation to communities in distress.

    “I appreciate that public service should really be directed at people, communities and organisations that need it. It should not be an elite obsession with the flamboyance of undue protocols, sirens, motorcades, wild parties and so on. Having been chosen by our great party, the PDP, I am offering myself for service in the knowledge that I have a programme of action that would elevate the state and our people economically, socially and politically.”

    A seasoned international civil servant, diplomat, strategic policy advisor and administrator, Obaze entered the race as the favourite for two main reasons. First, he has the backing of one of the most achieved governor the state has ever produced, Obi, and secondly, his track records speak volumes and go before him. Obaze said he left the Obiano administration when he noticed that things were falling apart and those at the very head of affairs could no longer listen to reason.

    Born on April 9, 1955 in Ogidi, he is a native of Ochuche Umuodu, Ogbaru Local Government Area. He is married to Dr. Ofunne Omo Obaze a physician and they are blessed with children.

  • Illegal refiners, others for training, integration

    Illegal refiners, others for training, integration

    • Govt targets 100% local content by 2027

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has directed some institutions to develop training plans that will give requisite skills to illegal refiners, pipeline vandals and others to make them productive.

    The institutions are the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI).

    He gave the directive at the just-concluded Nigerian Content Workshop, organised by New Planets Projects with the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources Upstream, in Owerri, Imo State.

    Kachikwu said NCDMB, PTDF and PTI should develop a plan for training youths, that are involved in pipeline vandalism, illegal refining and other illicit activities in the oil and gas industry.

    The training will focus on improving their skillsets and getting them to embrace productive activities to further boost oil and gas industry’s capacity building initiatives.

    He said: “We need to find a middle-level specialised system of training people in the oil industry, a system that is not necessarily tied to degrees. We need to capture a lot of those in the hinterlands who have finished WAEC or their first diploma and don’t know where to go to, but have some unique skillsets. We need to bring them to finishing schools.”

    Kachikwu also directed the institutions to use existing facilities in Port Harcourt and Kaduna to carry out the planned training and other capacity building programmes for industry stakeholders.

    “We have to provide local competency trainings, relying on support from oil companies in terms of investment and overseas faculty.”

    The Minister also directed the NCDMB to ensure that the oil and gas industry is able to produce its needs by year 2027. He said the Federal Government expected that over the next 10 years, the oil and gas industry, in collaboration with foreign investors, would have developed in-country capacities and capabilities to produce all its offshore platforms locally.

    “I would like to see the Japanese coming; I would like to see the Koreans come here; I would like to see collaborative efforts that will make our oil industry produce everything that we need,” he said.

    Kachikwu acknowledged the strides made by the Board in seven years, commending the excellent achievements of the Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, whom he credited for working with energy and passion and meeting several targets set for the Board in the past one year.

    Kachikwu noted that Nigerian Content achievement in engineering services had hit 80 per cent, but said performance in offshore aspects of the industry was still substantially low, and charged international and local oil companies to collaborate with the NCDMB to achieve the new target.

    “It doesn’t matter how much money we make, how much gas we produce or alternative fossils we produce; if we do not ensure that a lot of that is captured locally in terms of benefits, we have no stake,” the minister added.

  • ‘Training critical to aviation security’

    Former Director, Security Services, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), John Omaghomi, has urged the Federal Government to invest in the training of aviation security personnel. He described it as a critical component of airport security.

    According to Omaghomi, without requisite training, security personnel will be unable to respond to global threats to aviation security.

    Speaking last week during his pull out ceremony from FAAN, he said no amount of training could be too much for aviation security personnel, who needed to keep abreast of latest threats to global security, and strategies to address them.

    Omaghomi said only well- trained aviation security personnel could respond to emergencies professionally, because they have been equipped with the right skills and measures to contain any threat to air transportation.

    He urged aviation security personnel to remain dedicated and committed to their duties as the responsibility placed on their shoulders have assumed new dimensions because of the strategic role air transport plays in the global and national economies.

    Omaghomi said:”Training is a critical component in the role played by aviation security. It is for this reason we urge government to continue to invest in training to equip aviation security personnel with global measures to secure air transportation .

    “ This is critical because as threats to aviation secure remain static, there is the need to change containment measures  through time tested initiatives.”

    Also speaking, FAAN’s Managing Director, Saleh Dunoma described Omaghomi as a professional who brought his expertise to the airport security system.

    Speaking through the Director of Engineering Services, Salisu Daura, he said Omaghomi discharged his duties diligently through exemplary leadership and transfer of knowledge to improve the airport security architecture.

    Dunoma said: ”His vast contributions to FAAN accounts for the upgrading of the security unit into a directorate. He contributed immensely to the repositioning of aviation security.”

  • COWLSO holds training

    COWLSO holds training

    The Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO) has organised a capacity building programme for its members at its Retiree Villa, Ogombo, Ajah.

    Wife of Lagos State Governor and chairman of the committee, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, noted that capacity building was a major component of corporate and public service, for performance leveraging at home and other engagements outside the home.

    She said: ‘The need to continually improve ourselves for domestic, social and professional purposes, is the reason we have organised this training programme. It is expected to acquaint us with current trends and update our knowledge in relevant and vital areas.

    ‘’We hold the view that self-improvement trainings like this, will bring out optimal performance for those in paid employment. It will also help to bring out the best in us, in various personal businesses and our social interactions.’’

    Mrs. Ambode observed that topics for discussion, which were relevant to the women, included etiquette, public speaking, protocol and security.

    She explained that while etiquette was selected to polish domestic and public conduct, protocol was included to fine-tune the women’s knowledge of the rules.

    She stressed that security was a necessary for individual and collective safety, while public speaking was essential for everyone in jobs, businesses, social interactions and for politics.

    The governor’s wife assured the members, that the committee would not deviate from the philosophy of the founding mothers, which was to support the efforts of their husbands in government, to improve the welfare of Lagosians.

     

     

  • NISDP: ITF training 11,000 youths 

    NISDP: ITF training 11,000 youths 

    As part of its continued efforts to create jobs in line with the policy thrust of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has commenced the training of 11,000 youths nationwide under the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP).

    The training, which commenced last week, is the second phase of the 2016 NISDP, which trained 10,000 youths from 18 states. Under this phase, 300 youths, each from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), will be equipped with requisite skills in tailoring and fashion designing, plumbing and pipe fitting and welding and fabrication. Reports from across the 3,700 centres, indicated that all the expected trainees have turned up for the exercise.

    In a release by Head, Public Affairs Unit of the ITF , Suleyol Fred Chagu, said in order to ensure that trainees of the programme realise their potentials and dreams, supporting equipment in the trade areas will be provided to all trainees as starter pack, adding that this will serve as empowerment for all participants.

    The ITF urged all the selected trainees to make good use of the opportunity by displaying high level of commitment throughout the period of training in order to achieve the intended result.

    “The NISDP, which is the hard skills component of the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), has equipped over 100,000 Nigerians with skills for employability and entrepreneurship,” she said.

  • ‘Why churches don’t encourage discipleship training’

    ‘Why churches don’t encourage discipleship training’

    President of Equipping The Saint Worldwide Ministry, Dr. Jeje Philips, speaks with Adeola Ogunlade on the journey of the mission to the ideas of discipleship in Nigeria at its 14th convocation in Lagos

    How has the journey been in a terrain like Nigeria, trying to make disciples?

    Making disciples anywhere in the world is not easy and not smooth. Nigeria is not different but we give glory to God who has given us the strength to move this far and enablement all the way. Some of the things we encounter are human factors but God has been faithful to us. Because of is faithfulness, we have been able to move faster than expected. It‘s not been easy. We have been able to do 14 convocations in 20 years.

    That means you have lost out of some years. Why was that?

    In the process of setting up and establishing the ministry, we lost some resource people along the line. They lost out of the lane. May be the because of the rigid or rugged exercise put in place to run the race, some dropped out.

    We had to look out for new, greener pastures. Some people who started with us thought that is not as easy as church planting because in church planting, you have many people to support you financially.

    People will bring their tithes, which can be used to run the church but God ordered us not to collect money. So, we don’t charge for the training.

    So, how have you been keeping the ministry going?

    It is God that is helping us to survive. He told us to train them free that He did not send us to collect money but to make disciples and when we obey, He will give us the money.

    Are the materials free? If yes, how then do you pay your resource persons?

    The materials are not free.

    What is so peculiar about these new graduates in your interaction with them?

    God has enjoined us to go out and make disciples of all nations. The gospel of Jesus Christ should go across all missions. It is a mandate Jesus gave when He said all authorities on earth have been given to Him after resurrection.

    He gave the disciples the charge to go out and make disciples and teach the world about him. For sometimes, the church has been distracted from the main mandate by focusing on other things and not on Jesus and his heart cry to the church.

    Jesus told us to make disciples. By so doing, we would depopulate the kingdom of darkness, bring people to Christ, pray for the sick among them and they would recover because we have obeyed His injunction to go and  disciple all nations.

    We will then bring down the power of God on the earth. Originally, when Jesus Christ came, He gave power to the church to heal the sick but somehow the church, because we are busy running after other things, forgot His mandate

    His disciples are like Christ. Like Jesus said that to His disciples, they are not greater than the master but everyone, when fully trained, will be like his teacher (Luke 6: 40).  The church is supposed to act on earth as an arm of Jesus Christ. That is main purpose

    Do you keep tab on your graduates?

    We don’t just focus on the ceremonial aspect but invest our time and energy in following up with them one on one with the support of the alumni of the school.

    Why is it hard to sell the ideas to some denominational heads?

    The challenge is that some denominational heads want to run their own thing the way it profits them. They are churches that have bible colleges and they charge heavily. The church is looking for money by all means.

    When we started, a church invited us and we charged them and when we got there for the training, we did not see anybody, apart from an old woman with a child in the church. We felt very disappointed.

    I asked the Lord, why this disappointment and God told me ‘freely you have received, freely give. I told you to go and make disciples and not charge them. I will give you the money to run your ministry.’

    Then, we stop charging. We had charged some people for a fee, but when God told us to stop charging, we wrote to them that we are not charging any fee for the training and God over the years has been faithful to us.

    I remember we went to a church on Allen Avenue where we taught the workers for six weeks without any fee. The pastor of the church gave us some gifts after we finished the training but on our way out of the church, he called us back and told us that God told him to give us N100, 000.

    That encouraged and convicted us that God is faithful to what He said. Some churches also believe that no other ministry can come and teach them. We are non-denominational. We teach as the bible teaches us.

    Is it located only in Southwest?

    No, we are covering the whole of Africa.

    What’s your take on inclusion of African elements in worship in churches?

    We have no quarrel with that because you can do anything you like. Everything is important but not everything is expedient. Use of candle was first brought to Catholic Church in Nigeria and later to Cherubim and Seraphim.

    When I was the Dean of the C and S Bible College, we found it difficult to accept it but later we did. We accepted it but later changed. After some years, I was having problems with the church authorities because I was saying some things contrary to what they know and teach. We had problems and eventually, we moved out.

    We started an independent ministry, non-denominational ministry. We are not particular about the doctrines of each denomination. We teach Christ and we allow the denomination to teach their things. We may not interfere with the doctrine of any church, we only teach Christ and Christ alone crucified. It is a common denominator among all church

    How do you handle cases of trinity because some churches don’t believe in?

    There is no controversy about Trinity. Anybody who says he does not believe in trinity does not understand the nature of God. The nature of God is three, just like the nature of man. If you say that God is one and you are not interested in knowing the three aspects of Jesus, you have not started.

    Water is liquid as we know but if you put it inside the fridge or boil it, its only changes its form. It remains water. Anyone who does not understand that God is three does not understand God at all. Everything about God is three.

    How can the church make more impact in the world?

    The church can make impact if we follow the teachings of Christ that is why Jesus came to the world to make man understand God’s plan and purpose for humanity. In economy and other areas, the world did not have understanding of the purpose of God. That was why He sent His son to reveal His plan and purpose to the world. If the church can adhere to the teaching of Christ, it will affect the world positively.

  • ‘TETFund should not discourage consultants from organising overseas training’

    ‘TETFund should not discourage consultants from organising overseas training’

    Chairman, Executive Trainers Limited (ETL), an education consulting firm, Dr Ayodele Ogunsan, has called on the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to review its new policy, thatseeks to take away international human capacity programmes from private consultants, and return same to tertiary school. He addressed reporters at his Omole Phase 1, Lagos office on Monday. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA was there.

    WHAT is Executive Trainers

    Limited (ETL) all  about?

    ETL is an education consulting firm, we train higher education professionals across academic and non-academic sector on site and we also take them outside the country for training.

    We started in 2008 to address the human capacity gaps we saw. I must say here that we are the pioneer of this initiative. We went around the world and met with well-trained professionals globally and picked notable ones, while we signed MoU with others; that began in 2009.

    Why are you kicking  that against the policy by TETFund forbids private consulting firms from serving as a link for overseas training of education professionals?

    I believe when a new administrations comes on board, you don’t just destroy the structures already in place; rather you make it better. This policy is killing local consultants with foreign affiliations like ours who are now at the verge of being sent out of jobs.

    It’s unfortunate that many of these institutions have been writing us that due to that policy, they can no longer send their would-be trainees through our platform again. It is that bad and I think this also explains why such moves are at variance with the Federal Government’s stance which insists that Nigerians must patronise goods and services by indigenous providers.

    Don’t you think TETFund is right,  considering that many consulting firms are a conduit for siphoning money for frivolous training?

    This is the reason I’m accusing TETFund of not calling for a stakeholders’meeting before slamming the policy. The fact that TETFund made that allegation does not mean all consulting firms are conduits. Some of us have integrity and hold our heads high anytime. What TETFund needs is to seek audience with us first, where we would rub minds and show them our records of achievements, TETFund can then go ahead to separate the good ones from the bad.

    So, what distinguishes ETF from others in terms of integrity?

    Let me say categorically here that for the first time since we started, governments and Nigerians saw a local consultant with links with foreign institutions and passion for delivering what we initially promised. To us, it’s not only like training but exposing them to opportunities they have not exploited before.

    Some of them were able to travel out for the first time, or reunite with their old colleagues abroad. There are some professors here who were able to establish mentoring programmes with their colleagues abroad yet never met them face to face. Through our training, some of them were able to come up with exchange programmes and MoUs on technology and book transfers. We have a situation where some of them do two-year programmes here and have to complete the remaining abroad. Another advantage is that we do what is called a ‘programme mix’ where  we have the foreign trainers to talk to our delegates abroad, and we also locate renowned Nigerian professors plying their trade abroad to also talk to them in the language they understand.

    Is ETL transparent?

    Yes! For the first time, when we started this programme, governments were able to know where payments were made to. In the past, governments used to give money to professionals in various institutions to search online for places they could run their programmes for a week or two. Some of them would sign in and the money would either vanish or the programme might hold on the day that did not favour those who had registered; and what happened was that those institutions don’t do refund. Sometimes some of those trainings are not paid for and some of these crooked guys in tertiary institutions would just generate receipts, cooked up certificates and present to TETFund, which accepted them without verifying the authenticity or locations of those institutions’ nations? But for the first time, they can trace a local consultant here in Nigeria with track record. Agencies, institutions and bodies write letters to us to confirm if a particular officer attended our programme and we promptly confirm.

  • Govt saves $50m yearly from domestication of training, says NCDMB

    Govt saves $50m yearly from domestication of training, says NCDMB

    Domestication of personnel training in the oil and gas industry saves the nation about $50 million yearly, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has said. He made this known at  the graduation of trainees from Danvic Petroleum School in Lagos.

    Wabote, represented by the Board’s General Manager, Capacity Building Division, Ikponmwosa Oviasu, told The Nation on the sidelines at the event that before the signing of the Nigerian Content Act in 2010, the nation was losing $100million to foreign training in the industry.

    He said: “We are here to support the graduation of the first set of trainees from the Danvic Petroleum School after the completion of six months training programme. That is the first phase and the second phase, which is critical, is the attachment of the trainees to the industry for the on-the-job training for 12 months.

    “Danvic has made them acquire the prerequisite experience that will make them ready for the industry. I can assure you once they finish the one year attachment to oil firms, they will become really employable and will be ready to face all the challenges in the industry.

    “The Board values human capital seriously and we have done similar things in the past by assisting geoscientists and attaching them to major oil companies – Shell, Chevron and Mobil, and marginal fields operators, among others.We work with all stakeholders to ensure we attain common goals.

    “Therefore, the essence of this  training is to ensure that Nigerians participate in the industry by acquiring critical skills for work being done by expatriates. We will continue to support players, such as Danvic, to ensure that the trainees are made for employment in the industry.

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Danvic Petroleum International Nigeria, owners of the petroleum school, Dr. Mayowa Afe, told The Nation that institution was established to bridge the gap between the university and industry to enable the students of the institution acquire the knowledge that was not imparted to them in tertiary schools.

    He noted that the good thing about the institution was that upon graduation, the students would be helped  to get jobs within one year so that the company can use it to assess you for proper employment.

    “I’m glad to tell you that the graduates are starting work this week and the companies will be paying up to N250,000 per month as interns. Some people that graduated from universities in Nigeria stay up to five years in the labour market looking for jobs. They go for interviews and don’t get employed.

    “Therefore, this is a realisation of our long-term vision. Those that are unemployed, some of them have been outside the university for about five years and age is no longer on their side. They are not working and if they are called for interviews, they cannot pass. This is a school that is bridging the gap for them and we will establish the first oil and gas university in Nigeria. That is where we are going but we are starting with these steps to actualise it. If we are able to train our people and they become employable, it will certainly reduce the number of foreigners we bring into Nigeria to work. Our objective is to train Nigerians to become professionals that the oil and gas industry would be proud to employ,” he added.