Follow Us on Google
By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) has reiterated that capacity development remains vital to Nigeria’s energy future.
President of OGTAN, Mr. Chris Osarumwense, disclosed this at the Human Capacity Development (HCD) Awards hosted by the association in Lagos at the weekend.
He added that OGTAN has taken up the challenge of equipping talents with the competencies needed to keep the petroleum industry competitive and innovative.
Osarumwense maintained that OGTAN remains committed to fostering excellence in training and knowledge sharing across the full petroleum industry activity chain.
“Capacity development is vital to Nigeria’s energy future. Through university linkages, young professionals’ programmes and workshops, OGTAN drives human capacity growth, equipping talent with competencies needed to keep the sector competitive and innovative,” he stated.
He stressed that OGTAN is driven by the spirit of excellence and collaboration in advancing the nation’s petroleum industry, with a resolve to continue grooming effective, fit-for-purpose skill sets for a stronger and more resilient energy industry in Nigeria.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mazi Sam Azoka Onyechi, stated that OGTAN remains Nigeria’s greatest potential for human capacity development.
The group, according to him, has achieved one of the major mandates of the government on the domestication and domiciliation of skills in-country.
Other News
“In pursuit of this mandate, OGTAN has been appointed an awarding body for oil and gas industry skills by the Nigerian Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and, currently under the sponsorship of NCDMB, is deeply involved in developing national occupational standards for closing the gaps in critical oil and gas skills.
“We have operated with full focus on the five concepts of standardization, digitalization, certification, accreditation and domiciliation; all aimed at developing OGTAN as an accredited certification body with a certified Quality Management System to guide this noble service, and we achieved Certification of our Quality Management System to the ISO 9001:2015 Standard.
“And it is our dream to make OGTAN a regionally relevant and acceptable brand in human capacity development in Africa,” he stressed.
He noted that the group has “the potential to create jobs for our membership and assist our sister countries in Africa to develop requisite human capital to participate as professionals in their oil and gas industry business.”
The event recognised 11 trainers, policy drivers and corporate citizens with 10 categories of awards, celebrating their excellence, commitment and impact in human capacity development within the industry.
At the programme, the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) received the Excellence in Oil and Gas Training Award; Nigeria LNG Limited received the Best Corporate Training Partner Award; TotalEnergies E&P Nigeria Limited was recognised with the Young Professional Development Award; and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) Limited clinched the HCD Advancement Award.
Aradel Holding Plc and First E&P Development Company each received the Indigenous HCD Company of the Year Award; Pana Academy and Oilserv Limited also received the OGTAN Affiliate of the Year Award; and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) took the Government Partner of the Year Award.
In the individual categories, Mazi Sam Azoka Onyechi (KSC) received the OGTAN HCD Icon Award 2025; Mrs. Funmi Ogbue received the Women in Energy Leadership Award; and Dr. Ernest Nwapa got the award for Lifetime Achievement in Capacity Building.
Osarumwense declared that the awardees “represent the highest standards of performance, leadership, and contribution to workforce development.” He said the event expresses the collective commitment of the group to building a more resilient industry.
He noted that over 400 OGTAN member companies have, through the years, delivered thousands of courses and certifications to build industry-ready skills.
