By Chris Ochayi

The Federal Government has inaugurated the Head office of the National Power Sector Apprenticeship Scheme, NAPSAS, in Abuja. The scheme was designed to train artisans to bridge the technical gap of workforce in the power sector.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power,  Ambassador Godknows Igali said while commissioning the office  that the edifice will be used to co-ordinate all activities of the scheme across the country, because the sector cannot afford to derail Mr. President’s vision of building critical capacity in terms of middle level manpower necessary for the attainment of the nation’s quest for stable and safe electricity supply.

Going down memory lane, the Permanent Secretary observed that NAPSAS is a child of necessity, aimed at correcting the mistakes of the past. According to him, on the eve of privatisation, many felt there was no need to engage new hands; for 16 – 20 years, there was embargo on employment of technical personnel in the power sector.

The coming of NAPSAS, he said, will add value to the electricity sector through capacity building for artisans, pole climbers, switch gear operators, electrical fitters, sub-station operators, low and middle level technical staff.

He expressed optimism in the future of the scheme, saying that knowledge, innovation and technology which are features of the sector would be enhanced through training and retraining, which NAPSAS will help fill.

The Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo had said NAPSAS, is conceived to bridge the technical gap of workforce and address the near hopeless situation in the power sector..

Nebo, during the pre-event activities of launch of the scheme in Abuja, noted that the scheme will also serve as a huge way of advancing local content capacity of our people.

He said that when on assumption of duty he discovered a near hopeless situation on the technical side of the sector, with over 16 years of non-engagement of engineers; dying, sick and incapacitated workers existed in the sector, with no hope of being replaced by competent hands.

According to him, “The implication of this ugly development is that we will be handing over to the private sector a totally deficient and incapacitated work force that cannot deliver on the mandate handed down to us by Mr. President for us to ensure uninterrupted power supply nation-wide”.

“Hence we conceived this scheme to train artisans, filters, machinists, linesmen sub-station operators and joineries. These artisans will now be ready as driving force of young men and women who will take the power sector to higher heights.

“We are desirous of building a robust sector. These individuals drawn from across the country will undergo intensive training between six months and one year, during this time they would be paid a stipend.”

“There exists huge gap, that we need to fill, otherwise foreigners will take over this place. Qualified and skilful Nigerians would also be needed in the area of renewable energy,” he concluded.