From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives has decried the lack of man power development in oil and gas sector, stating the need to reverse the trend in the overall interest of the country.
The chairman, House Committee on
Petroleum Resources (Training Fund),Thomas Ereyitomi, while speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Committee, said constant training in the oil and gas sector will help to boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Ereyitomi stated that the establishment of the committee underscores the commitment of the House to addressing issues surrounding man power development in oil and gas sector of the economy.
According to him, “this Committee is one of the important Committees of the House. Our task is enormous. Our appointment to this Committee is a demonstration of the seriousness the House leadership attaches to this committee.”
He said, “This committee is one of the important committees of the House. Our task is enormous. Our appointment to this committee is a demonstration of the seriousness the House leadership attaches to this committee.”
Also, speaking at the meeting, Amobi Ogah, expressed regret that not much had been done in the training local players in oil and gas so as to boost the sector.
Ogah said “the mandate is meant for the training of capacity in the areas of oil and gas, but today. We cannot say that the agency has done much to train our people locally.
“Today we are still hiring foreigners to either rebuild or maintain our refineries, and one of the major reasons for setting out this agency is to develop our people, capacity, and ability to make sure that we move from overdependence from the foreigners in oil and gas to local level.
“But till now, with the mandate they have, they have not even gotten 10 per cent of it. This 10th Assembly would go a little far to see if they are doing as their mandate demands. We have been talking about local content. Local content does not only mean contracts; it also applies to staff training, especially as it has to do with technological training.
“We discover that most of the expatriates in the oil and gas sector are coming from overseas. And I feel that if we can ensure that our indigenous staff in the sector are trained, it would reduce capital flight in this country. ”