Tanya Davidson
Port Harcourt — Fifteen years after construction began on the Petroleum Technology Development Fund’s, PTDF, Centre for Skills Development and Training, CSDT, in Port Harcourt, the Fund is moving to commence operations at the facility, which is still not fully complete.
The centre, located 10 minutes drive from the Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa, Ikwerre LGA of Rivers State, was conceived in 2010, with construction commencing in 2011 and later abandoned, but has yet to reach full completion despite funding support from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB.
PTDF Executive Secretary, Professor Shuaibu Shehu Aliyu, has now inaugurated a high-level Committee on Operational Policy Review, Curriculum Development and Industry Integration to accelerate the full operationalisation of the facility.
Speaking at the committee’s inauguration in Abuja, Aliyu said the committee would review the Centre’s systems and operations, identify existing gaps and develop practical recommendations for its optimal utilisation.
The move is coming as Nigeria continues to grapple with shortages of qualified technical manpower in the oil and gas industry, the same skills gap that informed the establishment of the Centre.
Aliyu said a PTDF skills audit had identified significant shortages of qualified Nigerian technical manpower, particularly in technical and middle-level occupations across the oil and gas industry.
The CSDT is designed to provide competency-based vocational training and internationally recognised certifications for technicians, artisans and craftsmen in areas including welding and fabrication, electrical works, industrial safety, automobile maintenance and heavy-duty equipment maintenance.
According to the PTDF Executive Secretary, the Centre is approximately 98 percent complete and comprises an administrative building, auditorium, library, hostels, staff quarters, canteen, power and water infrastructure, among other facilities.
While awaiting full commencement, the facility has been used for activities under PTDF’s Overseas Scholarship Scheme and In-Country Scholarship Scheme, as well as training programmes organised by institutions including the Bureau of Public Procurement.
Aliyu said the committee’s work would be critical to moving the Centre from a largely completed construction project to a fully functional technical training institution.
The renewed push to operationalise the facility raises questions over the long construction timeline of a project intended to address a longstanding technical skills deficit in Nigeria’s energy industry.
