In Nigeria’s welding industry, Petroleum Training Institute comes first in many things for many reasons. First training institution dedicated to oil and gas manpower development exclusively, first welding approved training body, first national institute to participate in a continental welding competition, and came second place, etc. This time, PTI came first as host to Nigeria’s National Welding Road Show, a skill-based program focused exclusively on communications and demonstration of best practices in special welding process techniques.
Although the increasing national focus on skills development cannot be over emphasized, it becomes more of an activity when not realistic, adaptive, and connected to industrial opportunities. The National Welding Road show organized by the Nigerian Institute of Welding in collaboration with The Welding Federation of Africa engaged PTI welding community in an experience sharing session of some of the unique complements of TWF Welder training qualification syllabus which puts an African content welder step ahead in staying relevant and competitive.
The road show featured a no hold bar questions session with leading professionals in Nigeria’s welding industry on viable career path, technical challenges in welding manipulations, and access to welder qualification and certifications.
In his opening remarks to the PTI welding community delivered online, Engr Bijimi Gaiya, Chairman, NIW CTC, shared experiences and challenges in his welding career from 1978 to date. He highlighted salient points on how to build and sustain momentum in welding as a career. He expressed delight on the passion shown by students to learn more, and explained that the National Welding Road show is a first under NIW’s Rebuild, Reclaim, and Rebrand program. He announced that the next stop of the road show is hopefully Yaba College of Technology with even deeper dimensions in view
Engr Grace Erhimona, former director of PTI and Vice Chairman of NIW CTC, expressed her satisfaction with PTI in setting the pace again for other institutions to follow. She attributed PTI leading status as being the offshoot of several capacity upgrade support from various intervention agencies such Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), and a host of others. She called the attention of PTDF, NDDC and NCDMB on the gaps which organizing this road show had revealed in PTI facility adequacy in such special process techniques as gouging, buttering, hard facing and a host of others.
She appealed for these agencies to support PTI to stay competitive as a national pride by going further to sponsor welder and instructors from PTI to consistently participate in the annual TWF continental welding competition. The competitive transfer of knowledge and experience gained by participating in this event is unprecedented, and serves as a huge motivation to push and sustain a competitive atmosphere in PTI’s welding community
Responding to questions from our correspondence, Ayo Adeniyi, Executive Director of TWF, expressed satisfaction on the turnout and outcome of the first stop of the road show. He appreciated the unprecedented support shown by industry professionals to build that national and continental bridge linking skills with factual opportunities and right insights. He thanked the management of PTI under the leadership of Engr. Dr. Samuel Onoji, Chief executive officer for consistently demonstrating vision and foresightedness in issues of national importance. He also thanked Dr Jimba Bankole, former Director of PTI, Engr Grace Erhimona former Director of PTI, Engr Jerome Peter, Engr David Adidi of Delta State Polytechnic, Eddy Omonigho of the department of welding, Okpeh Onovughe, Otus Utuaghono and, Kingsley Oboh for sacrifices made to ensure the road show’s success.
Ayo called on the attention of the various intervention agencies that Africa was no longer existing in 1942. He informed that in welding; a lot of reinventions are happening, and fast at that with competitive solutions being developed via integrated learning and experience sharing amongst experts on Africa’s table of solutions development. A lot has happened thus far, a lot is still happening, the researchers know it, the experts know it, it is therefore necessary for these intervention agencies to look into the developments to find out what value they offer, and support Nigerian to access the solutions. In particular, he called the attention of PTDF, NDDC and NCDMB to TWF’s African Content Support program which hosts deep value propositions to Nigeria’s academic and industrial space through OEM focused research, innovation and manpower development.
He appealed to PTDF, NDDC, TETFUND and NCDMB to dedicate a fund to sponsoring leading experts in welding and materials engineering across the different institutions of learning to participate in TWF annual assemblies which holds in different countries across the continent in the month of march or April every year. He expressed sadness that after most academia’s follow the train of activities all through the year, they are mostly unable to join the assembly of experts physically owing to lack of fund or schedule of release of funds. A situation which has been quite discouraging to the academic community.
