The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), has said a greater percentage of beneficiaries of its Overseas Scholarship Scheme will henceforth undergo their studies in top Nigerian Universities and Centres of Excellence upgraded by the Fund.
The decision is in line with the current reality of poor receipts from oil revenue and the impact on funding of its capacity building programmes, particularly the overseas scholarship scheme, a statement from Kalu Otisi, head, press and external relations department of PTDF has said.
According to the statement, PTDF has over the years been implementing a gradual domestication policy with the award of local scholarships to deserving students in the universities it has upgraded.
“… the Fund is speeding up the process through the effective utilization of some of the Institutions it developed from scratch. The Fund is also evolving strategic partnerships and collaborations with local and foreign universities, training and research institutions, and curriculum development service providers.
“One of the Institutions being proposed for this phase of PTDF domestication drive is the National Institute for Petroleum Policy and Strategy (NIPPS), currently being developed by the Fund in Kaduna, North West Nigeria”, the statement noted.
The Federal Government approved the development of the Institute as part of the infrastructural and human capital development programmes of the Fund to provide state of the art training facilities and learning environment, and for the development of research, technology, skills and relevant manpower for the industry.
With a Technology Development and Management wings, the Institute is specifically designed to undertake industry related trainings for Executive and Senior Management personnel in the oil and gas industry, provide training for fresh graduates in oil and gas related disciplines to improve their employability in the petroleum industry, and host a-one-stop analytical laboratory for effective research and development activities.
The Institute on completion will in addition explore collaboration and partnership with reputable indigenous and international institutes to offer MSc and PhD programmes, welding and fabrication training programmes, development of relevant skills in gas technology, and promotion of research in renewable energy sources.
The statement further that it was an effort to realising the vision that a delegation of the Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, United Kingdom paid an exploratory visit to PTDF, to determine how most effectively the Institute can engage with PTDF in realizing the objectives of setting up the National Institute of Petroleum Policy and Strategy, Kaduna.
