Our training fee is nothing compared to the benefits, says NAPTIN boss

April 10, 2013 Musa Adamu Energy 1 comment

As the power sector reform enters its final phase, the sector is expected to become bigger. Additional companies will require manpower to function optimally, but there is already dearth of manpower. In this interview with MUSA ADAMU, the Director General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Engr. Reuben Okeke, relays how the agency is ready to surmount the challenge

How prepared is the NAPTIN to meet the manpower needs of the emerging companies?

 

I want to, first of all, say we acknowledge the dearth of technical manpower in the power sector and this is partly due to the embargo placed on employment since 1998. But, when the Federal Government decided to establish National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, (NAPTIN), the idea is to make sure that that huge gap in manpower requirement is bridged.

As a body, we have identified the huge challenge that we are going to face in, especially in post privatisation period and I want to assure that with the support of the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, we have been getting prepared for the post privatisation era.

Similarly, with the technical support we have been getting from our development partners in recent time to make sure that we brace up to that challenge, we will be very ready by the time the reform is completed.

The desire to work towards this challenge is informed by the fact that if we don't have the local workforce ready, then local content law may not achieve its aim since the investors will definitely look elsewhere to fill the manpower gap. So, what we are doing right now is to make sure that we have enough engineers and craftsmen available for the investors to shop from.

 

How many Nigerians have you trained so far?

 

Well, we have done the manpower requirement survey and we know what is needed when the nation achieves the 20,000 megawatts, (MW). We are generating 4,500MW right now and we have less than 1,600 Engineers supporting this, and of this number, about 700 will be retiring in the next three years. Therefore, from the manpower requirement survey, we will need about 8,244 trained Engineers and Technologists to support the increased in the generation by the time we hit 20,000MW.

Also, we will be requiring a total of about 17, 500 technical manpower including lines men, cable jointers, fitters and so on to support 400,000MW.This number may be reduced if the level of automation in our operation is improved, and we are expecting that the investors coming in will invest in automation so that where you require four hands to man a sub-station, with automation, one hand may just be all right.

 

What is the entry qualification?

 

First of all, this is an engineering outfit; power is engineering. Having said this, I must add that we also have support services staff which NAPTIN is as well interested in. These are what we refer to as non-technical workforce. But for technical workforce, one needs to have a Bsc or HND in Electrical Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or in Civil Engineering.

Apart from this, a holder of a National Diploma Certificate from a government technical school or a Polytechnic or what they call a Trade Test Examination, (TTE) can be admitted for the lower cadre training.

Of recent, we have been thinking about how we can accommodate a school certificate holder with a credit in physics and mathematics and at least a certificate in computer to be taking up for some of the vocations we have in power sector like district sub-stations operators. These cadres run shifts and they are the ones you see all over the town where we have an injection sub-station.

Before coming to us for the short training, we also encourage that you should get employed in any of the value chain of the electricity for about a year or two before been. We have a lot of modular courses depending on the level with which you are coming into the institute.

 

What chances have those working in the sector but without these qualifications in the institute?

 

Everybody currently engaged and working also has a place. All we need to do is to find out your level and what you already know and we take you from there. This question is pertinent because in PHCN we go by the government rule which says you must have a certificate. So, it must be stressed that if what you only have is a school cert, you would not have a career progression beyond certain level unless you have a degree.

I need to also add that at NAPTIN, we are trying to come up with something that will have a universal appeal. By this, once you sit and pass NAPTIN exams and training, you can make all the career progression like any other person, whether in PHCN or elsewhere. On this, were are working with National Board for Technical Education, (NBTE) to develop what we call National Occupational Standard, (NOS) and it is expected to cover power sector vocation, power system protection, turbine maintenance, auxiliary maintenance in the power station, electrical system operations and electrical maintenance.

 

 

How well do you think Nigerians really know about the opportunity you represent?

 

Well, I would say we depend on people like you; the media to reach out to Nigerians. We are aware that no matter what we do here unless we depend on the media, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the larger percentage of Nigerians to appreciate what we are doing.

We are currently running jingles on some select Radio outfits in the country and I must add that its costs a lot since we are just starting. But, we will get the needed funds to fund more commercials and advertisements in both electronic and print medium.

 

 

Some Nigerians say your fees are too high for an average Nigerian

 

It is true that our fees are a bit high, but if we should publish how we compute and arrive at such fees today, I bet you many of those criticizing us will jump to our defence. We have been challenged a couple of times on this issue actually. They asked how is it possible to ask for N750, 000 from a fresh graduate who has spent so much in the university and has not got employed to afford the fee.

But, I can tell you how we arrived at that. I want to assure you that the same people complaining would not mind spending N 2million to do masters and if he does it abroad, spends between N2.5million to N3millionn only to come back without a skill. He cannot work anywhere because his certificate cannot give him the needed skill to get a job.  Here we are asking you to pay just N750, 000 and get empowered and you are complaining? The new owners coming in will not look at your certificates alone; they will also want to know what you can give them.

 

Are you in collaboration with any University?

 

Yes, we are working with the National University commission, (NUC) to develop a modality on which we can work together. We have already identified two universities for this reason. It will be a mutually beneficial collaboration. The universities will also be able to restructure their curriculum, as a result.

We have about 244 graduates who have been with us for the past six months now and we have given them exams and we have seen from their results that universities have to review their curriculum, because some of these graduates are not even trainable.

 

How informed are the new investors about your activities?

 

The truth of the matter is that the new investors are not coming to reinvent the wheel. If the new investors come tomorrow, they would not be doing anything different from what we have been doing apart from ensuring efficiency. Why I am saying this is that we already know where the training needs are, but beyond this, we are going to work with the new investors and we would expect them to tell us the areas they would want us to emphasize on.

When the new national power training policy, which the minister will endorse soon, comes on stream, every investor would be required to train their staff. So, he can only exercise the option of training them abroad or bringing them to NAPTIN.