…Laments knowledge flight in industry

By Adesina Wahab

The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, has charged tertiary institutions in the country training professionals in the petroleum industry to integrate digitization and modern methods into their curricula, so as to produce graduates that would help position the industry for better performance.

This is just as the association decried the situation whereby the sector is also experiencing knowledge flight apart from the already known capital flight.

The group stated this during its “University Assistance Programme, UAP, titled “Bridging the Industry-Academia Gap: Consolidating the Gains of the Past and Projecting into the future.”

In a statement yesterday by the President. Dr James Edet and Publicity Secretary, Tunbosun Afolayan, NAPE said the UAP was conceived to provide a platform and ambience for students studying the geosciences in Nigerian tertiary institutions for the exchange of technical knowledge, an exhibition of new technologies and industry/ academia collaboration.

It said there was a need to move from “think-tank” to “do-thank” if the industry would grow to meet today’s demands and expectations.

“The lack of high-quality workforce needed for Nigeria’s energy transition has been a nagging concern for the industry and the academia. The situation is further exacerbated by talent flight and the high level of competition for the relatively few skilled and well-trained professionals.

“Critical Research and Development (R & D) outfits that should primarily provide academic and industrial establishments with a fulcrum for sustainable support and innovations are missing.

“There is also a need to bridge the gap between the old and new generations of the workforce in the areas of grounded knowledge, Artificial Intelligence, and innovations in order to avoid knowledge loss and stimulate energy growth.

“It was based on the above contentions, that NAPE chose the theme: Bridging the Industry-Academia Gap: Consolidating the Gains of the Past and Projecting into the future as the theme of its 15th NAPE – UAP Leadership Forum,” NAPE said.

The association noted that in order to improve the situation in the sector, a number of steps must be taken.

“Digitization should be integrated into the University Curriculum especially for teaching and learning of Geoscience, as it is now the trend in the industry (Software, Hardware, Internet connectivity, Cloud infrastructure etc.).

“There should be a sustained collaborative effort between university and industry to draft a course content on renewable energy for universities. As there is the need for academia to align their Research and Development (R&D) activities to suit industry needs. NAPE encourages NOCs and IOCs to offer more internship and sabbatical opportunities for Nigerian Geoscience students and lecturers, respectively, to enhance knowledge transfer.

“The creation of Centres of Excellence in various geopolitical zones in the country.

Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) will be encouraged to collaborate with NAPE to enable data access for the academia for research and training. Example is having an open-source data to be used by academia and have specific data for research.

“The universities should embrace the concept of visiting geosciences programs by NAPE/AAPG. Universities need to work closely with the industry in a mutual and symbiotic manner, where values are created on both sides.

“NAPE to act as a Special Purpose Vehicle by providing a buddy system between industry professionals and academia. The need to re-engineer University-Industry collaboration in Research and Development, Current Trends and Emerging Technologies for solution-driven challenges.

“There is a need to provide basic upstream geoscience and reservoir management and operations geology training platforms for an internship with the intent of building local human capacity for future use and good succession plans. Capability development via a detailed and resilient competence framework for the future; Upskilling and reskilling of personnel to adapt to the changing business environment. We need to build our society and stop capital flight and knowledge flight.

“There is need for universities and industries to collaborate on special projects that would add value to the academia and industry by way of SIWES and Internship programs where teamwork and business goals can be reached.”

The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) is the umbrella association for persons involved in the professional application of geosciences and related disciplines to the exploration and production of oil and gas in the country.

Vanguard News Nigeria