In furtherance of its resolve to enhance the development,
penetration, and utilization of Nigeria's abundant gas resources, the Federal
Government on Wednesday, 9th October, 2024, in Abuja inaugurated two Technical
Working Groups (TWGs) to drive the objectives of the National Gas Expansion
Programme (NGEP).
The TWGs, comprising NGEP/National Board for Technical Education
(NBTE) and NGEP/Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), were
inaugurated by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Amb.
Nicholas Agbo Ella.
In his inauguration address, the Permanent Secretary remarked
that the occasion would herald a new dawn for the technical education sector
which he noted, had over the years maintained status quo irrespective of the
new innovations and technologies that trended globally.
He emphasized that, globally, “it is now a norm that graduands
of Technical Colleges possess soft skills that makes them entrepreneurs as soon
as they leave the institution. This is a deliberate effort of those nations to
introduce specialized skills into the curriculum of higher institutions, most
especially technical colleges that bridge the skill gaps in key sectors of the
economy”.
Ella posited that technology and innovation are driven by
people, hence the need to make conscious effort to introduce specialize
training modules to Nigeria's technical colleges’ curriculum.
“Therefore, it is in view of the foregoing that the Technical
Working Group between the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and National
Board of Technical Education (NBTE) will be inaugurated to amongst other things
develop specialized training module to the existing curriculum for Technical
Colleges”.
The objective of the Technical Working Group as spelt out by the
Permanent Secretary was to design a comprehensive curriculum for the training
of gas (LPG, CNG, LNG and Bio-Gas) Entrepreneurs in Mono and Polytechnics.
While inaugurating the Technical Working Group between the NGEP
and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), the Permanent
Secretary stated that, It was a well-known fact that most modern cities in
developed countries worldwide had evolved to energy smart cities where energy,
specifically Gas and other utilities including water, electrical and
telecommunication cablings such as fibre optics, are piped to districts and
estates.
He noted that techniques involved in making cities become energy
smart was usually through reticulation, which is, piping networks supplying gas
around buildings, industrial sites, and households.
“However, one of the key tools in creating energy smart city is
the National Building Code which in essence, sets the guidelines on building
pre-design, designs, construction and post-construction stages with a view to
ensuring quality, safety and proficiency in the building Industry. The country
currently has a National Building Code that is being reviewed but yet to be
finalized”.
The objective of the Technical Working Group between the NGEP
and CORBON, according to the Permanent Secretary, was to make energy available
in estates, districts, commercial and industrial sites.
In his remarks at the Inauguration ceremony, the Chairman of the
National Gas Expansion Programme, Prof. Mohammed M. Ibrahim, said the
inaugurations marked another historic phase in the quest for the nation to
address its energy crisis.
He noted that while NGEP/CORBON TWG would look at gas
reticulation in the building industry, the NGEP/NBTE TWG would explore ways of
adding value and building capacity for gas entrepreneurship in Mono and
Polytechnics in Nigeria.
Membership of NBTE Technical Working Group are: Special
Assistant to the Executive Director of NBTE, Prof. Diya'Udden Basheer Hassan,
Marketing Consultant, Engr. Patrick Yari, Deputy Director, Technical Trade
Division Engr. Bashir Datti and a member, Dr. Zakari Abdullahi.
The membership of Technical Working Group (TWG) of COBRON are as
follows: Registrar; Builder Adetunji Adeniran. Other members are: Builders
Abdulmumuni Usman, Lawrence Manggei and Blessing Ojochenemi.
Their terms of references are to design a template for assessing
and evaluating the current capacity (Human infrastructure including pedagogical
tools) of Mono and Polytechnics in Nigeria to carry out training, Examine
current gas distribution system in residential, commercial and industrial
buildings in other countries among others.
The inauguration ceremony was a follow up to the inauguration of
the Technical Working Groups of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria
(ALGON) and National Directorate of Employment (NDE) that was carried out by
the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Amb. Nicholas Agbo
Ella in September.
Present at the event were Directors and staff of the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources as well as delegations from NBTE and CORBON.