Over 40 students, sponsored by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and its partners, have graduated from Mudiame University in Irrua, Edo State, as part of measures to improve local content in oil producing communities.
The Vocational Training Programme was designed for host communities of the Assa North-Ohaji South Gas Project in Imo State.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Owerri, Imo State, Managing Director of Mudiame International Limited, Prof. Sunny Eromosele, said the training was conducted by Mudiame International Institute at her permanent site in Mudiame University Irrua, Edo State and supervised by Dormanlong Engineering Limited along with Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
Eromosele said capacity development remained the best way to unlock economic prosperity of the country especially at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to the country that domestication, backward integration and local content development must be a priority for countries and organisations.
“Mudiame International Limited, Mudiame International Institute and Mudiame University Irrua are built on global best practices. As an ISO 17025 accredited Nigerian based Testing, Calibration and Inspection Company offering services to the Oil, Gas and Allied Industries we can only conform to the best quality.
Also, as an educational platform, we have built a world-leading institution for technological innovation that addresses the challenges of oil and gas, agriculture and food safety, energy, health, manufacturing, oil and gas, security and transportation on a regional and global scale,” Eromosele said.
He said the company had decided about 20 years ago to invest in human capacity development realizing the need to empower the workforce of the present and future.
“Having realized that skill development is a currency that will continue to appreciate, today we have sharpened the vision of providing needed skills for technological development in Nigeria by becoming a leading destination for service provision and skill development in the Oil & Gas, Construction, Aviation and Allied sectors,” Eromosele said.
He stated that the graduating students were properly trained to provide services in the Oil and gas sector and could also serve as Entrepreneurs running their own businesses, adding that the vocational training would assist the t country improve Local Content Development to 70 per cent.
“This initiative will in no small measure strengthen the roles of the Oil Producing Communities in Oil and Gas operations.
“It will reduce the import of Expatriates and help the country to conserve foreign exchange and drastically reduce unemployment in the region,” Eromosele added.
