By Anthony Areh
The Minister of State for Power, Goddy Jedy-Agba, has reiterated Federal Government’s commitment to capacity building in the power sector to boost efficiency.
He disclosed this on Thursday at the graduation of 85 engineers that participated in the training of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) in Abuja via ZOOM.
He said that Government was committed to building capacity in all sectors of the country’s economy in order to achieve its desire of effective service delivery to the people.
Jedy-Agba said that the graduating engineers were trained in the three key areas of electricity production chain; Generation, Transmission, and Distribution,
According to him, this is an effort of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to build a more vibrant and effective work force in the power industry.
Jedy -Agba said that with competent hands manning equipment in the power network, the country would be sure of steady power supply and reduction in challenges facing it.
He urged the graduates to exploit the opportunity of the training in playing their roles in the ever growing power sector.
Jedy-Agba said that the Federal Government was committed to supporting NAPTIN in the area of policies and financial resources, to enable the institute deliver on its mandate.
He recommended the training programme for youths, corporate bodies and oganisations towards building local content.
“I also wish to commend the state governments who had sponsored indigenes of their states to this programme.
“I also commend some private sectors who sponsored some youths to participate in the programme. It is a laudable effort that will go a long way at reducing unemployment in our country,“ he said.
Earlier, The Director-General of NAPTIN, Mr Ahmed Nagode, said that its Graduates Skills Development Programme (NGSDP) was a year programme, which started in Sept. 2012.
He said that it was to empowering graduate engineers and technologists of electrical/electronic and mechanical discipline towards a career in the power sector.
Nagode said that the training would bridge the gap between academic qualification and skills required to operate and maintain equipment/infrastructure of the power network.
“NAPTIN has upgraded the programme by introducing safety and Solar PV; thus giving the trainees the opportunity to further develop their competencies and skills.
“This will improve their chances of success in the self-employment and conventional job market of their profession,“ he said.
He lauded state governments and corporate organisations for their foresight in sponsoring some of the candidates in the programme.
Mr Abiodun Akaratu, the overall best graduate trainee, thanked NAPTIN for the knowledge it has impacted on them and promised to put it in good use for the benefit of the country.
