At the recent Graduation ceremony of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo has announced that the three best graduating students will be offered automatic employment, just as he also announced cash reward of N150,000 and N100,000 for the two categories of awardees.
The Minister said he is satisfied with the training curriculum as it has prepared the graduands to truly become engineers, skillful enough to operate in the delicate power sector as they are imbued with formal knowledge and skills.
He said the group of trainees, two sets since his assumption of duty, will help address the dire need for skilled manpower for the sector, which had suffered neglect of skilled workforce under both NEPA and PHCN regimes.
The Minister said that, he is more confident now, than he was in the time past that the sector is prepared for the envisaged astronomical leap in its activities, all in the match to ensuring uninterrupted power supply to Nigerians.
He said, this mission is the underscore of Mr. President’s Transformation Agenda, as it also has job creation component and of course local content, which will enable Nigerians to take their rightful positions in the future of the sector.
Prof. Nebo commended the vision of the founding father of NAPTIN, as they have incorporated Training Policy for Power as a way of setting service-wide standard that all private operators must adhere to.
It is keeping faith with this resolve that General Electric has also incorporated local capacity-building into its plans for the new plant being built in Cross-River State.
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The Minister enjoined all stakeholders to think out of the box by embracing new approaches in tackling the various challenges facing the sector, especially training modules and research efforts that will bring to fore new opportunities that abound in the power sector.
While setting the agenda for the new graduands, the Minister said, “I dare you to use all the skills you have acquired during your training at NAPTIN to become uncommon and un-equal individuals in your future endeavours”.
Another notable speaker at the event, Senator Philip Aduda, the Chairman, House Committee on Power challenged the graduands to use the training in the protection of power assets even though they are in private hands, just as he assured the Institute of continuous legislative support.
Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Sam Amadi, in his goodwill message commended NAPTIN for its continuous efforts at capacity building, as the graduands after their training at the Institute are good enough to fill the technical capacity gap which had skewed against engineers and other technical staff in the time past.
He said it was because of this, that the sector’s development partners have identified and supported NAPTIN’s programmes and counselled that the Institute should keep abreast of changes in this digitalized world, hence in near future, things like Risk engineering and Financing expertise will be incorporated into the curriculum.
Earlier, the P.S (Power), Ambassador Godknows Igali had enjoined the new graduands to take their training seriously, as the opportunity had distinguished them as persons capable of working in the newly privatized power sector.
He said 189 graduands have been given Presidential nod to be employed, stressing that “this development is a wake-up call to those States that have failed to sponsor students, despite the fact that they have un-used quota, which he advised them to take advantage of”.
Timothy Oyedeji
Deputy Director (Press)
Ministry of Power
December 4, 2014
