Nigeria saves forex as NLNG trains technicians at PTI

Nigeria will be saving huge sums in foreign exchange as Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has opted to train its fresh set of technicians and allied oil and gas staff in specialised fields at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State, instead of training them abroad.

Forty-eight graduate trainees received certifications in various competencies, including the PTI Proficiency Certificate, NEBOSH International General Certificate (IGC), National Skills Qualification (NSQ) and City and Guilds Level 2 Certificate in Leadership and Team Skills, after six months training exercise.

The Principal and Chief Executive Officer of PTI, Dr. Henry Adimula, noted that NLNG’s decision to train the technicians at PTI instead of outside the shores of Nigeria had saved huge sums of money.

He said: “When we compare the cost of this training done here in PTI and that done outside the shores of Nigeria, we
would see that PTI has saved our dear nation, Nigeria, huge sums of money running into millions of British
pounds and if converted into naira, hundreds of millions, if not billions.”

The trainees were divided along different areas of specialty including: electrical, mechanical and instrumentation, health and safety, communication and team skills, among others.

They also acquired skills in Liquefied Natural Gas Processing, an area the sponsor, NLNG, is keen on, to bolster productivity, meeting customer demands and sustaining a safe operation of the NLNG in Bonny, Rivers State without harm to its personnel, assets, the environment and the host community.

NLNG representative, Christopher Ireogbulam, lauded the programme as one of NLNG’s efforts at boosting local content by expanding and exploring local technical capabilities for the general development of the country.

He said the NLNG and PTI partnership was a mutual venture that would ultimately build requisite local skilled manpower that would competently run the oil and gas industry, saying NLNG would invest in fruitful ventures like the training, as it holds potential for Nigeria’s industrial transformation.