…As ES inspects training of 305 youths
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has reiterated its dedication to building indigenous capacity through specialised training programmes aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s participation in the oil and gas industry.
Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, made this known during an inspection of ongoing training for 305 youths at the Centre for Marine and Offshore Technology Development (CMOTD) at Rivers State University (RSU).
The training, fully sponsored by the NCDMB, spans seven technical areas: Automation; Instrumentation and Control; Mechanical and Process Piping; System Design with Pressure Vessel and Heat Exchanger Design (PV-ELITE); Electrical Power Transformer Repairs and Maintenance; Industrial and Practical Ship Design and Construction. Other modules include Oil Well Surveillance and Enhancement Analysis, Big Data Analytics, and International-Class Welding, Fabrication, and Qualification.
Designed to run for four months, the programme is part of the Board’s Human Capacity Development initiative, targeting critical manpower gaps in the sector. Participants were selected from the Nigerian Oil and Gas Joint Qualification System (NOGICJQS), the industry’s database of technical and human expertise.
Engr. Ogbe encouraged trainees to make the most of the opportunity, noting that the skills being acquired are in high demand both within the oil and gas industry and related sectors. He pledged that the Board will sustain efforts to equip Nigerians with essential competencies to drive employment creation and support the economic objectives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The Executive Secretary also toured the Advanced Marine Engineering and Offshore Engineering Research Centre, constructed by an international oil company under the Nigerian Content institutional strengthening initiative. He promised to complete furnishing and partitioning of the facility to ensure its full utilisation and to review the delayed completion of staff quarters built by the NCDMB for the university.
Ogbe and his team were welcomed by RSU Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi; Engr. Dr. Sylvanus Eferebo, National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (NIMENA) and Chairman of CMOTD’s Management Board; Prof. J. Akpa, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering; and other senior staff.
Dr. Eferebo noted that RSU has been designated as the Centre of Excellence in Marine Engineering by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), citing the university’s strength in marine studies and its three dedicated research centres.
He added that 70 per cent of CMOTD trainers are drawn from the oil and gas industry and other sectors, while the remaining 30 per cent come from the university, ensuring that training aligns closely with industry standards and COREN’s regulations for engineering education.
