22 August 2013, Lagos – Twenty-five lecturers drawn from five universities in the country’s North Central zone have been trained in the 4th edition of the University Assistance Programme, UAP, training workshop, sponsored by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, EEPNL, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil in Nigeria.
The initiative is aimed at funding geological programmes in selected Nigerian universities as a means of impacting the quality of locally-trained geosciences graduates coming out of the institutions.
It also involves the construction of geoscience workrooms equipped with workstations, plotters and printers at the selected universities. The lecturers’ training workshop is a major component of the initiative.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop designed to expose the participating lecturers to the latest technology and current best practices in geosciences, the Manager, Deepwater Production Geoscience, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mr. Goodluck Adagbasa, said there was need for Geoscience lecturers to constantly update their knowledge in the field, so that Nigerian universities can produce quality home-grown graduates that can function effectively in the oil and gas sector without necessarily going abroad for studies before they qualify as experts.
“As we all know, the world is fast becoming a global village and the use of technology in the quest for oil and gas exploration can’t be over- emphasized. It is, therefore, necessary to empower graduates coming out of our educational system to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the world.
– Dayo Adesulu, Vanguard