Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB and Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, with its joint venture partners, have unveiled two engineering design studios and an ICT hub at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO.
The facilities, donated in furtherance of the Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development programme, include two state-of-the-art engineering design studios and a fully furnished 100-seater main ICT lecture hall, equipped with computers and smartboards.
The studios are designed to serve as a “visually stimulating collaborative workspace that fosters an environment where students can engage in group work, brainstorming sessions, and ideation meetings.”
Other facilities are a 200KVA diesel generator, diesel storage tank, generator house, borehole, overhead water tank, perimeter mesh wire fence, a car park, as well as shallow drains and landscaping.
Speaking at the ceremony, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, said the studios and ICT hub were initiated in furtherance of Federal Government’s aspirations for development of competent technical manpower to support activities in the oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors.
According to the NCDMB boss, who was
Ogbe represented by the Board’s Director of Capacity Building, Dr. Ama Ikuru, said the impartation of specialised skills through expansion and modernisation of academic infrastructure has to be accelerated.
He noted that the Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development programme was focused on institutional strengthening, equipping universities and revamping select technical and vocational schools across the country, in a bid to develop competent technical manpower and craftsmen needed in the oil and gas industry and the linkage sectors.
He said: “We shall keep enhancing institutional capacity to equip our students with the requisite knowledge and skills needed to compete globally in the wake of the 4th industrial revolution where Artificial Intelligence, data science, Internet of Things, robotics dominate.
“The Board has carried out the upgrade of many vocational schools and universities under its Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centres upgrade programme. We believe in the significance of education particularly the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM, courses.”
In his own address, the Managing Director and Country Chair of SPDC, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, described the Engineering Design Studio and ICT Hub as an important human capital development project that has resulted from a fruitful collaboration between SPDC JV partners, notably, NNPCL, SPDC, TotalEnergies, Eni, and NCDMB.
Okunbor, represented by the SPDC General Manager, External Relations, Mr Igo Weli, assured that a 40KW solar system will be installed in the coming weeks to ensure sustainable energy supply to the facility.
He said: “FUTO was selected to benefit from institutional strengthening in the catchment areas of SPDC’s Assa North Ohaji South Gas Development Project. This facility is in line with the associated Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development Plan and in accordance with the provisions of the NOGICD Act, 2010 and NCDMB’s HCD Guidelines of 2020.”
Similarly, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer, NNPCL Upstream Investment Management Services, NUIMS, Mr. Bala M. Wunti, observed that innovation thrives in an environment where ideas can be freely exchanged and developed.
Wunti represented by the Senior Advisor Stakeholders Relations, NUIMS, Mrs. Halimat Wilson, stated that the true impact of the facility would be measured by the success stories that emerge from it.
“The Engineering Studio and ICT Hub is designed to be such a place where students, researchers, and faculty can collaborate on projects, share knowledge, and push the boundaries of what is possible,” he said.
On his part, Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, represented by the Commissioner for Digital Economy and E-Government, Dr. Chimezie Amadi, lauded Shell and its JV partners for providing the State with what he described as vital digital infrastructure.
Governor Uzodinma said the facility would serve as a centre for innovation and creativity that would contribute to the development of the State.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of FUTO, Professor Nnenna Nnannaya Oti, said the facility aligns with the critical mandate of the University, to jumpstart national development through indigenous technology-based teaching pedagogy that emphasises practical knowledge, innovations and problem solving.
Oti expressed profound appreciation to the Managing Director and Country Chair of Shell, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, and the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, among others, for making such a landmark donation to the University.
