- NCDMB Commends Body
By Adewale Sanyaolu
The President of the Oil Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria(OGTAN), Mr. Sam Azoka Onyechi, has harped on the need for harmonised training and certification programmes for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Onyechi stated this at the Annual OGTAN HCD Awards held at MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos at the weekend.
“Skills development can never go out of fashion. Even in an emerging world of artificial intelligence, human skills and intellect would still be needed to create the machines and the software to govern them.
“The value proposition to create OGTAN is therefore a foresighted, sustainable initiative of NCDMB. The efforts needed for sustainability would be and have been directed at domestication and domiciliation of skills in-country, which is one of the mandates of NCDMB to OGTAN on creation.
“This OGTAN believes can only be achieved through the provision of a harmonised skills training and certification programme, operating not just for the Nigerian industry but projected across the African industry value chain,” Onyechi added.
In the same vein, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has commended OGTAN for its vital contributions to human capacity development in the oil and gas industry.
The NCDMB boss said that the board was happy to identify with the OGTAN awards project which is intended to spur action with respect to capacity building and development of skills in the oil and gas industry by stakeholders in the sector.
Ogbe, who was represented by Mr Dan Kikile Esueme, General Manager of Corporate Communications/Zonal Coordination at NCDMB, noted that the board has been at the forefront of promoting the development of local content in the nation’s oil and gas industry through various initiatives, including partnering with the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for the completion of the proposed Centre for Skills Development and Training (CSDT) in Omagwa, Rivers State.
According to him, this project is aimed at decreasing the skills gap in the oil and gas industry through targeted training and skills acquisition.
He assured OGTAN that when operational, the facility would be placed at the “beck and call” of the association to be used to develop skills.
He further urged stakeholders to utilise the facility to meet “our target of training qualified, highly skilled and competent industrial workers.”
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe, lauded OGTAN for significantly leading in providing first-class capacity development interventions and shaping the competencies of Nigerians in the oil and gas industry.
Komolafe noted that by providing comprehensive training programmes, OGTAN not only aids operators in meeting local content requirements but has also empowered the total workforce for effectiveness and efficiency, thereby aligning with the objectives of the Local Content Act 2010.
He stressed that OGTAN has helped with the actualisation of NUPRC’s mandate through the association’s focus on professional training which enables effective service delivery across the industry’s value chain for optimal productivity.
Distinguished personalities and organisations honoured at the award included; Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Chevron Nigeria Limited, Seplat Energy, Charkin Maritime Academy, Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Tolmann Allied Service Company Limited, and First Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited (First E&P).
Others are Prof. Abdulkadir Mukhtar, Ahmed Galadima Aminu, Prime Atlantic Safety Services, and Oilserv Limited.