Ikeja Electric Plc(IE) has trained 140 employees to boost metering density and meter management across its network.
The chief executive officer, Ikeja Electric, Folake Soetan, who led the presentation of certificates to the graduands, said Ikeja Electric Metering Academy was launched in 2020 as a result of shortage in human capacity for the installation of meters, resulting in slow pace of metering across its network.
The CEO who was represented by the chief financial officer(CFO), Ikeja Electric, Sequinat Akinwunmi, said the training was done in collaboration with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria(NAPTIN), and the Energy Training Centre(ETC).
According to the CEO, the young graduands were selected across Ikeja Electric’s six business units which includes; Akowonjo, Shomolu, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Oshodi and Ikorodu.
Soetan said, the essence of the training was to bridge the metering gap in the industry which aligns with the vision of Ikeja Electric, as well as the federal government’s National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP).
“The programme will also equip staff to carry out the functions including meter installation, identifying faults and also rectifying the faults. This will in turn improve service delivery, ensure customer satisfaction, and also grow revenue,” she added.
“This programme is very important to us. That is why we have put in a lot of resources and time, and also partnered with NAPTIN and ETC to close up this skill gap in the industry,” Akinwunmi further explained.
While congratulating the graduating students, Soetan, tasked them to be worthy ambassadors of Ikeja Electric and adhere to safety standards which is one of the DisCo’s core values.
The managing director, Energy Training Centre(ETC), Ibiene Okeleke said: “Ikeja Electric had invested heavily in the Metering Academy. They partnered with Energy Training Centre (ETC) to ensure the 140 candidates were trained by the Metering Academy, across three batches.
She commended Ikeja Electric for investing massively in such a laudable programme, while noting that, the initiative shows the commitment of the company to get people who have the desire to do things the right way.
She added that, “it was also important for us to reflect on the opportunities to increase the revenue of IE through meter data management, optimization of operations and other initiatives.”
The director-General, NAPTIN, Ahmed Bolaji Nagode, explained that, the institute was saddled with the responsibility to build human capacity and to coordinate training in the power sector.
He said the training would also help to shore up the DisCo’s revenue collection and improve customer satisfaction, apart from increasing the level of efficiency of the graduands,
Speaking on behalf of the graduating students, Akingbade Adeniyi, Tomilayo Oluborode and Gloria Gomina, thanked Ikeja Electric for facilitating the training.
According to them, they have been equipped on how to install meters, identify meter bypass and meter management among other things which would improve their job performances going forward.
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