PTDF forms skills centre committee to bridge oil and gas workforce gap

Concerned by a shortage of qualified technical manpower in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry,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) in Port Harcourt.

This is in a bid to bridge the gap of shortage of qualified technical manpower in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

The executive secretary of PTDF, Professor Shuaibu Shehu Aliyu, who inaugurated the Committee on Operational Policy Review, Curriculum Development and Industry Integration in Abuja, said the panel would review the Centre’s systems and operations, identify gaps and develop recommendations for optimal use of the facility.

He explained that the CSDT was established after a PTDF skills audit found significant shortages of qualified Nigerian technical manpower, particularly at the technical and middle-level occupation cadres across the oil and gas industry.

The Centre is intended to provide competency-based vocational training and internationally recognised certifications for technicians, artisans and craftsmen in fields including welding and fabrication, electrical works, industrial safety, automobile maintenance and heavy-duty equipment maintenance.

Aliyu said the Centre is about 98 per cent complete, with an administrative building, auditorium, library, hostels, staff quarters, a canteen, and power and water infrastructure among the facilities in place. Ahead of full commencement, the facility has been used for PTDF’s Overseas Scholarship Scheme and In-Country Scholarship Scheme, as well as training programmes run by bodies such as the Bureau of Public Procurement.

The committee’s terms of reference include developing an operational policy and management framework for the Centre; designing competency-based curricula aligned with industry requirements; recommending training, assessment and certification systems; establishing pathways for internships, apprenticeships, employment and entrepreneurship; developing partnerships with government agencies, regulators, educational institutions, professional bodies, operators and service companies; and preparing an implementation framework with timelines, responsibilities, monitoring indicators and reporting mechanisms.

Responding on behalf of the committee, its Chairman, Professor Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, thanked PTDF for the confidence placed in the members and said the committee would deliver a review and operationalisation framework for the Centre.

Kachikwu said skills development is central to economic growth, local participation in the energy value chain and Africa’s involvement in the global energy transition.

Members of the committee include the chairman of the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN), Christopher Osarunwense; a representative of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr Folorunsho Akande; chief executive officer of Green Energy International, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe; president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo; Professor Mohammed Dauda of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Professor Ayodele Ajayi of the Federal University of Technology, Akure; Zainab Dutse of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA); V. U. Akpagher of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC); Dr Sani Mohammed of Kaduna Polytechnic; and representatives of Dangote Refinery, the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) and other stakeholder organisations.

PTDF said it expects the committee’s expertise to guide the Centre’s programmes, industry integration and the Fund’s mandate on human and institutional capacity development for the energy sector.