The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) operated Joint Venture (JV) has trained 15 engineering graduates from host communities of the Afam VI Power Plant at Oyigbo in Rivers State on the operation and maintenance of combined cycle power plants.
A statement from SPDC disclosed that the youths were the second set of 30 graduates from the host communities to benefit from the initiative, which incorporates training sessions in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
“We can confidently say that the trainees are the best set of engineers in the Nigeria electricity industry today,” said Afam Power Project Manager, Mr. Ben Agbajogu, during a ceremony in Port Harcourt to mark the end of the one-year training.
According to him, the trainees have been adequately equipped theoretically and practically on operating and maintaining modern power plants, and can compete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world.”
The training included exposure of the graduates for 11 months at the Afam VI Power Plant, to operating and maintaining a combined cycle power plant and one-month specialised certificate training at the Osborne Training Services Newcastle, United Kingdom.
The member representing Oyigbo constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Chisom Dike, said the initiative had become a personal dream come true, as he recalled how SPDC accepted his proposal as a youth leader about 12 years ago to train over 100 youths in various skills.
