Tom Moses
13 November 2009
Calabar — As part of efforts to bridge the yawning gap between Nigerian graduates and their overseas counterparts, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund-PTDF, has upgraded facilities in Nigerian universities valued at Three Billion Naira (#3 Billion).
PTDF Executive Secretary Engineer Muttagha Rabe Dame stated this at the University of Calabar (UNICAL), Monday at the commissioning and handing over of a new Department of Applied Chemistry built by PTDF to the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bassey Asuquo.
The Department of Applied Chemistry of the University of Calabar is the fourth of the eight upgraded departments of selected universities to be commissioned this year under the second phase of PTDF University Upgrade Project.
Already commissioned and handed over to the respective universities are the Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, University of Uyo, Department of Electrical Engineering, Bayero University, Kano and the Department of Geology and Mining Sciences, University of Illorin.
The other four upgraded departments in the second phase of the programme are the Department of Petroleum Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, scheduled for commissioning on November 12, and the Department of Geology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ille-ife scheduled for commissioning on November 18,while the others are the Department of Chemical Engineering, Abubakar Tafewa Balewa University, Bauchi and the Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna.
The first phase of the project, Dame informed, affected oil and gas related departments in eight Universities.
Facilities provided by PTDF in all upgraded universities including the Department of Applied Chemistry, UNICAL are a brand new department building with provision for a 300 seating capacity auditorium, furnished classrooms with modern teaching facilities, laboratory and workshops, library and computer rooms, furnished lecturers and Professors' offices.
Other components are the supply and installation of laboratory and workshop equipment, the supply and installation of IT facilities and teaching aids, books and journals, infrastructure and ancillary facilities like generating plants and water borehole all replicated in all other upgraded departments to transform them into world class institutions comparable to similar departments anywhere in the world.
The Executive Secretary explained that for any department in a university, be it state owned or federal to qualify for PTDF upgrade, its main course of study, academic programme and curricula, must have been accredited by the National University Commission and must be relevant to the oil and gas industry just as the faculty should be able to facilitate strong scientific and technical research that are of relevance to the oil and gas industry in the country as well as attract industry collaboration in the development of local capacity.
"PTDF being the only government agency statutorily mandated to develop the capacity of Nigerians system and institutions to actively participate and take effective control of the oil companies, were reluctant to employ graduates of local universities for the reason of being deficient in training and skills necessary to work in the industry.
"Our local graduates were considered half-baked, inadequate in training and therefore, unemployable and incapable of functioning in the industry.
"As a short a short term and medium term measure, PTDF designed overseas scholarship scheme to train young Nigerian graduates in oil and gas related fields at both the Masters and Doctoral levels in top rated universities in the United Kingdom.
"The scheme was developed to fill the deficiency gap of graduates of local universities and equip them with the relevant skills and competence to fit in directly to the oil and gas industry.
"To ensure that students in the local universities received the kind of world class trainings as their counterparts abroad, PTDF embarked on the upgrade of facilities and faculty of relevant departments in selected universities as value addition in bringing up the right caliber of graduates qualified for assimilation into the industry", he stated.
In doing that Dame said PTDF adopted a four-pronged approach to upgrade the structures and facilities to world class standard, enhance the faculty of the teaching and academic staff by sending them abroad for scholarship on doctoral and post-doctoral studies in top universities so as to achieve the objective of building capacity for the Nigerian universities and enhance the quality of graduates to be produced from the upgraded departments among others.
Speaking, the UNICAL Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bassey Asuquo said the establishment of a new department of Applied Chemistry, construction of the structures, and provision of facilities by PTDF was a dream come true situation just as the intervention programme on capacity building.
He commended President Umaru Yar'Adua for approving the budgeting and location of the project in UNICAL assuring that his administration would secure and preserve the facilities for the purposes they are meant to serve.
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