Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, in partnership with the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, has graduated 100 young Nigerians from a six-month Technical and Vocational Training Programme aimed at closing critical manpower gaps in the oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors.
The close-out ceremony, held at the Raw Materials and Research Development Centre, RMRDC, in Abuja, marked the completion of intensive training in eight trade areas, including automation and mechatronics technology, building technology, electrical/electronic technology.
Others are residential air-conditioning and refrigeration maintenance, mechanical services and maintenance, instrumentation and process control, mobile phone repairs and troubleshooting, and information and communication technology.
Speaking at the event, NCDMB’s Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, represented by Barr. Dan Kikile, General Manager, Human Capacity Development, described the initiative as “a celebration of skills, resilience, and national growth,” noting that the selected trades were demand-driven.
“These skills align not only with the oil and gas sector but also with the local construction industry and emerging areas such as renewable energy and digital manufacturing. You now hold the keys to self-reliance, job creation, and professional fulfillment.”
The graduates were selected from the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Joint Qualification System, NOGIC-JQS, platform through a competitive process involving computer-based tests and oral interviews, ensuring transparency and nationwide representation.
Declaring the event open, ITF Director General, Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin, stressed the importance of technical and vocational skills to Nigeria’s economic growth.
He commended NCDMB for its sustained partnership, saying such collaborations “equip our young people to become productive contributors to national development rather than job seekers.”
The NCDMB-ITF partnership, officials say, is a core part of the Nigerian Content 10-Year Strategic Roadmap, which aims to foster entrepreneurship, reduce unemployment, and strengthen the country’s industrial base by equipping Nigerians with globally competitive technical skills.
