NCDMB allocates 60% of oil projects capacity development funds to training

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has developed a guideline that guarantees the allocation of 60 percent of the Human Capacity Development (HCD) budget on major oil and gas projects to the strengthening of training institutions.

Under the guideline, a large chunk of the HCD commitments on projects will be channeled towards the upgrade and provision of facilities in institutions that train the relevant workforce for the oil and gas industry, while the remaining percentages of the HCD budget will be applied to other human capacity programmes.

Simbi Wabote, executive secretary of the NCDMB, disclosed this at the ground-breaking ceremony of the infrastructural upgrade of the Government Technical College (GTC), Rivers State, by TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited.

Wabote, who was represented by Patrick Daziba Obah, director, Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS), underscored the key roles that technical, vocational education and training play in the development of skilled craftsmen who are required for the delivery of projects in the oil and gas industry and the growth of Nigerian content in the industry.

“The availability of skilled and qualified Nigerian craftsmen will reduce dependence on foreign artisans and reduce capital flight,” he said.

He enjoined TotalEnergies to ensure that all the projects at GTC Port Harcourt are completed in record time and to insist that world-class industrial equipment is installed in the school, so the students can acquire the requisite skills that will make them ready for field operations.

He also charged the company to ensure that there is a sustainability and maintenance plan in place to support the workshop, including the provision of vital spare parts for the machines to guarantee that the teachers and instructors are trained to use any equipment that will be installed in the school.

The NCDMB boss urged the management, staff, and students of the school to extend their maximum support to the contractors handling the upgrade projects and to provide security for the workers on site.

“The success of these projects depends on you”, he maintained.

Mike Sangster, managing director, TotalEnergies, said the projects are designed to upgrade the standard of infrastructure in the school, create a good learning atmosphere, improve the standard of living for the students and equip vocational students with life skills.

Sangster, who was represented by Guillaume Dulout, TotalEnergies’ deputy managing director, JV Asset, said the project represents the company’s full alignment with the initiatives of the NCDMB Board to develop technical expertise and professionalism in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

He disclosed that TotalEnergies’ Ikike project, which had its investment decision in 2019, had achieved its first oil recently and this was recorded without any lost time injury or incident and with significant local content milestones.