Blessing Iruoma
The Minister for State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekpo Ekperikpe said when completed, the Centre for Skills Development and Training (CSDT), by the federal government will boost indigenous participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas sector.
Ekperikpe stated this at the weekend, when he visited the facility, manned by Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), in Igwuruta-Ali, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Speaking with journalists, after inspecting the facility, the Minister explained that the Centre will enhance opportunities for the youths of the Niger Delta region to have good skills that will help them to be productive in the society.
He said “When you want to build a nation that you can depend on, you have to bring up your youth in a skillful way and this is what this institution tends to offer so that they become useful citizens tomorrow having skills to take care of their daily needs”.
Ekperikpe who assured that the center will positively affect the life of the people of Niger Delta and Nigeria at large, said the project is 90 percent completed and may be inaugurated at the end of the year or in the early month of 2026.
“From the address that the executive secretary read to us, the project is 92% completed and I have given instruction representing Mr President that they should make sure this project is completed this year.
“This is the Renewed Hope Agenda administration, we have to rekindle the hope of Nigerians in the present administration, so I am very sure and executive secretary has listened to the voice of the President through me that this project will be completed within this year so that school program will begin next year.”
Addressing the PTDF workers and contractors on site, Minister Ekperikpe said “Nigeria is our country and all of us are citizens of this country, so continue with spirit that you are working with, don’t wait until ES comes and do what you need to do. We need to fix this nation for ourselves, nobody will come and fix our country for us, nobody is coming to fix the Niger Delta for us.
Internal security is an important and effective kind of security; meaning that our destiny is in our hands, and we had to translate the knowledge that we have acquired into meaningful and tangible things that will add value to our country, Nigeria”, Ekperikpe added.
Earlier in his remarks, the Executive Secretary of PTDF, Mr Ahmed Aminu, stated that the Minister’s visit underscored the federal government’s commitment to fostering talent and advancing the capabilities of workforce in the oil and gas industry.
He stated that the center is a testament to the federal government commitment, stressing that if completed, the center will “promote the Nigerian Content Policy, train and develop skills in the occupational areas that exist in the oil and gas sector.”
He continued that the objective of the centre is “to liaise with the industry to upgrade the skills of the workforce for improved productivity, undertake studies to establish the skills requirements of the industry and develop job specifications for purposes of skills training and empower the youth through skills acquisition aimed at job creation and entrepreneurship development”.
Also, that the Centre will provide solutions to challenges in the global oil and gas industry. “With the intention of achieving the centre’s set objectives, a skill audit was carried out by the fund to identify the gaps in the oil and gas industry, some gaps were identified”.
He however, thanked the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Rivers State Government, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Host community, and other stakeholders, for their contribution to the success of the project.
