Returnee India-trained graduate engineers of the Dangote Refinery have assured Nigerians that fuel crisis will become a thing of the past when the refinery commences operation.
The graduates promised to deploy the knowledge and skills acquired during the training to ensure Nigeria is saved the embarrassment of incessant fuel scarcity when the refinery comes on stream.
The engineers, who described their experience as second to none in the history of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, said never again would Nigeria experience fuel scarcity as the Dangote refinery would be operated in the most efficient manner.
Dangote Oil Refinery Company had in preparation for take off sent in batches Nigeria graduate engineers to Bharat Refinery in India, arguably the biggest in the world, for training in refinery operation and production.
Nigeria is awaiting the Dangote refinery, with a capacity to produce 650,000 bpd to commence operation as the country’s four state-owned refineries have been comatose.
Reliving their experience to the management of the company on return one after another, at the refinery premises in Lekki, Lagos, the engineers said they had both theoretical and practical training in India and they are also having a very rare opportunity to witness a refinery of Dangote’s size being built from the scratch.
Opeyemi Oyedepo, process engineer, and Igwe John, petroleum and gas engineer, told the management how they were made to be part of trouble shooting during their training, which has boosted their confidence that Dangote Refinery, with the most modern facilities, will eradicate fuel scarcity in Nigeria.
Speaking on the benefits of the training to Dangote Refinery, the engineers stated that the company would henceforth enjoy increased value of human asset, improved ability to implement and realise specific goals within time frame.
The graduate engineers also listed efficient refinery operations and adherence to quality and standard as part of the benefits.
In his comment, technical adviser to Dangote Refinery, Babajide Soyode, expressed satisfaction that the best of the graduate engineers were selected as attested to by the the trainer’s in India.
He said the management was proud of the engineers as they have displayed a thorough understanding of what they learnt in India.
On the choice of India for the training, Soyode said India has the biggest refinery in the world and is ready to train young engineers, unlike the disposition in Europe and other parts of the Western world.
The company’s director of human capital management and project support, Mohan Kumar, while presenting the engineers said the company is laying a solid foundation for take-off with the training of the engineers.
He said the young engineers were trained in how to manage the operations of the refinery.
Kumar added that the engineers had gathered fundamental practical knowledge about refineries.