ESSO Geosciences Training For University Lecturers Ends In Abuja

July 31, 2013 - PRLog -- 25 lecturers drawn from five universities in the country’s North Central zone have been trained in the 4^th edition of the Universtity Assistance Programme (UAP)training workshop, sponsored by Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil in Nigeria.

The UAP initiative is aimedatfunding geological  programmes in selected Nigerian universities as a means of  impacting  the quality of locally-trained geosciences graduates coming out of the institutions.It also involves the construction of geoscience workrooms equipped with workstations, plotters and printers at the selected universities. The lecturers’ training workshop is a major component of the initiative.

Speakingat the opening ceremony, Mr. Goodluck Adagbasa, the Manager, Deepwater Production Geoscience, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, said there was a need for Geoscience lecturers to constantly update their knowledge in the field, so that Nigerian universities can produce quality home-grown graduates that can function effectively in the Oil and Gas sector without necessarily going abroad for studies before they qualify as experts.

He noted that the desire to improve the quality of geoscience graduates from Nigerian universities was the driving force behind the sponsorship of the University Assistance Programme (UAP) by EEPNL.

He said: “As we all know, 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. It is our sincere hope and belief that the better the output from our universities, the better the impact on societal growth.”

Adagbasa further implored the participating lecturers to take full advantage of the workshop to, not only refresh their knowledge, but also effectively utilize the knowledge gained in improving the quality of their students, stressing that if the training does not in-turn improve the knowledge of the students, the objectives of the programme would remain unfulfilled.

Also commenting on the importance of the programme, Mrs. Clemetina Arubi,the representative of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), the investment arm of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, EEPNL’s partner, said her organization takes the development of human capacity very seriously, adding that the corporation is genuinely committed to helping to improve the quality of geoscience professionals coming out of Nigerian tertiary institutions.

“The Oil and Gas industry continues to be strategic to Nigeria’s economic and social develoment, hence it is imperative to guarantee our long-term competitiveness within the global industry that is driven by high-level technology.

“As the investment arm for the Oil and Gas industry in Nigeria, we will continue to work with all our partners and stakeholders to assist the government achieve its set goals for growth and capacity development in the nation,”she added.

The first edition of the workshop was held in Benin City in August, 2012, with seven universities in attendance while the second one which involved six universities was held in November, 2012, at Enugu. Ibadan hosted the third edition, where seven universities participated, in April, 2013.

The five universities that participated in the Abuja workshop were: Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State; Kogi State University, Ayangba, Kogi State; Nasarawa State University, Keffi; University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State and University of Jos, Jos, Plateau State.