ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL) recently commenced the third edition of its Train-the-Trainer workshop, an initiative that aims to improve the quality of geoscience students in Nigerian universities by retraining their university lecturers with the latest in geoscience analysis technology.
Participants were drawn from six universities; Federal University of Technology, Akure; Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomosho; Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife; Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye; University of Lagos; University of Ado Ekiti, Ado Ekiti; and University of Ibadan, Ibadan.
The Train-the-trainer workshop - the third in the series - was organised in conjunction with Danvic Concept International, and is part of the EEPNL-sponsored University Assistance Programme (UAP), under which Esso sponsors the construction of Geoscience workrooms equipped with workstations, plotters and printers in selected universities, and sponsors the training of lecturers and students on the usage of these machines.
This effort is complemented by other establishments like Schlumberger, which donates and loads the required software to support the program. Till date, ExxonMobil's sponsorship of the programme is in excess of N500 million.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop, held at the Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, the Manager, Deepwater Production Geoscience, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mr. Goodluck Adegbesan, stated that there was a need for Geoscience lecturers to constantly update their knowledge in the field so as to be in tune with current reality in the oil and gas industry.
According to him, the decision of Esso to participate in the training and the retraining of lecturers through the University Assistance Programme (UAP), is to ensure that Nigeria consistently produced quality man-power for the oil and gas sector of the economy adding that the initiative would reduce capital flight, which would ensure that more home-grown Nigerians with requisite skills are employed.
He said: "The world is fast becoming a global village and the use of technology in the quest for oil and gas exploration cannot be over- emphasized. It is, therefore, necessary to empower graduates coming out of our educational system to compete with their counterparts from other parts of the world in the market place. It is our sincere hope and belief that the better the output from our universities, the better impact on societal growth."
Adegbesan, however, urged participating lecturers to take full advantage of the workshop for themselves and also for improving the quality of their students.
Also speaking, the Project Consultant and Managing Director of Ehimade Nigeria Limited, Dr. Lambert Aikhiovbare, said Esso had to take up the responsibility of improving lecturers' capacity because the quality of graduates from Nigerian universities has been dropping over the years, saying that employers spend huge resources in the re-training of these graduates before they could match up to acceptable standards. According to him, students cannot be properly developed if the teachers do not know what they are teaching.
