The minister of state, Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has instructed the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to expedite the completion of the College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna to close the skills gap in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The minister stated this during a facility tour of the institution located along the Kaduna – Zaria Expressway way, behind the Kaduna International Trade Fair Complex, on Tuesday.
Lokpobiri, accompanied by top management staff of the PTDF expressed satisfaction on the state-of-the-art facilities on ground in college established in 2009 which has so far gulped more than N15 billion
Lokpobiri highlighted the need for the college to be operational as soon as possible. He noted that the college would play a crucial role in training Nigerians to fill critical positions in the industry.
But the minister after the facility tour of projects, noted that with the facilities on ground, it was time to ensure the college was operational while adding that the ministry won’t allow the college to rot away.
Lokpobiri also encouraged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and all other government institutions to patronise the college once operational.
According to him, the college with the mandate to train senior cadre officers in the oil and gas sector, would save the country a lot foreign exchange from training Nigerians overseas.
He added that every year Nigerians were being trained abroad but with the state-of-the-art facilities at the college, there won’t be need for that when the college becomes operational soon.
The minister said, “I am waiting on the executive secretary to give the relevant briefs then I will brief Mr. President to see how the place will be commissioned and put to use as soon as possible.
“This will save us a lot of foreign exchange. As you know the mandate of PTDF is basically to build capacity using the limited resources to train people at levels including doctorate degree level outside the country.
“But if this place is commissioned and put to use with collaboration with Universities forming partnership with and then other stakeholders like NNPC and other industry players will be able to save the money to train a lot more Nigerians.
“Every year, thousands of people apply for training but the limited funds can only take a few but with this arrangement, a lot more people will be trained here and they will still get the foreign certificate that they need.
“So, I believe that today’s inspection was absolutely satisfactory because I saw more than what I was told in the briefs. I am happy that I came today and I am happy that Nigerians will also have the privilege of seeing this through different media and then continue to give us the cooperation that is needed to enable us to complete this project and then use them for the purpose that they have been built.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the executive secretary of the PTDF, Ahmad Galadima Aminu, expressed the readiness of the institute to go operational as most projects had reached completion stage.
He added that so far 63 out of the 87 contracts awarded have been completed while 24 contracts were at various stages of completion.
According to him, the completed buildings and facilities include, International Conference Centre, Residential Buildings, Staff school; Students Hostel, Library, Management Wing, Indoor Sports Hall, Shopping Arcade, Perimeter fencing, Mosque, Chapel, Dual Carriageways, Internal Road networks/drainages, parking lots, External electrical reticulation, 33KVA substation, Extension of 33KVA power line, Independent Power Generating Plants (3Nr. 1.5MVA).
Other completed projects, he said, are sewage treatment plant, IT Backbone and infrastructure boreholes, water treatment Plant, external water supply and reticulation, and other supporting electrical and mechanical engineering services.
Speaking further, the PTDF boss noted that the Fund established College in 2009, aimed at developing a world class institution for training of senior technical, management and executive cadre within the nation`s Petroleum Industry and beyond.
According to him, the vision of the College was “to become a world-class training institute serving the needs of the energy industry in Nigeria and Africa” while the mission was “to achieve excellence in both theoretical and practical solutions for industry training, career progression, research and development, through collaborations with reputable, international and indigenous partners in the Energy Industry and academia.”
He also said that the National University Commission had granted the provincial licence College of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Kaduna to operate as a private post graduate university.
He added that the NUC granted approval for CPESK to commence operations with 19 take-off programmes spread across six departments and three faculties respectively.
He explained that based on the approval, PTDF initiated discussions with three reputable United Kingdom universities to run postgraduate programs in Engineering, Applied & Earth Sciences, Computing & Telecommunication Technology, Health, Safety & Environment, and Business Management based on an International Joint Venture approach.
“The three universities are University of Portsmouth; University of Strathclyde; and Robert Gordon University,” he said.
He added that in line with global best practice, a lean governance structure is being proposed for the College.
“This will be a top-bottom structure consisting of the Board of Trustees, President/Vice Chancellor, Heads of Functional Unit (Head of Academic , Librarian, Registrar, Director of Works, and Bursar) and a limited number of support staff,” Aminu said.
In addition, he said, PTDF and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) developed a collaborative framework for the delivery of all Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Career Progression Programmes and industry-based training for the oil and gas industry at CPESK.
He said, “In this regard, the Fund and NNPC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under mutual terms and conditions to strengthen the collaborative framework for the effective utilisation of the College’s facilities. One of the terms of the MoU is furnishing of the 240 room ICC by the NNPC, which has since commenced and attained appreciable progress.”
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