Dr Celestine Iyamu, is the National President of the alumni association of the  Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Effurun near Warri, Delta state.  In this interview he speaks on his goals for the body and other issues. Excerpt :


We just came on board with lots of visions and plans to take the alumni to greater heights .

The PTI is an oil and gas training institute. It’s establishment was one of the conditions for Nigeria to  be a member of  the Organization of  Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC and it has been in existence since 1972.  It was set up to provide technical manpower for the oil and gas industry.

Graduands of this great institute are proud of the school . Many  of us have also gone to other institutions to get higher degrees and certificates . But the PTI is our base, so we are very proud of the school.

I have three years tenure as the president and I  want to focus on three areas.   One is to complete the PTI alumni building started by the old executive in the school.   Within a space of one year we should complete that building.

Secondly, I also want to get our graduands all over the world that are yet to be active in the alumni to come in. Many of them are in  high places. For instance  Professor Kalu Osiri, in the US, he is the owner  of  a university, he graduated from the PTI. He has assured he would come on board.


The third vision is to give the alumni a political power, that power that will help us take the alumni to greater heights. Outside finance, we need the political power as a body  to attract government’s attention. It will make government give the institute attention. We should develop the links with  political leaders.

Funding

We were with  the Principal/Chief Executive of the institute , Dr Henry Adimula, I was surprised at what the institute gets  every month to run the place outside the salaries. This is meagre, looking at the bills the institute has to pay.  There is electricity bills to pay etc. Government should increase the funding. Though there is the PTI consult that generates funds but government should still raise the budgetary provision to the institute.





Well I was also shocked to hear that the PTI is not mentioned in the Petroleum Industry Act,  PIA. This again takes us to the political power. The institute should have been  incorporated in the PIA.



Oil companies have taxes  they pay . All the International Oil companies, IOC and the local oil companies,  LOCs should have what  we call the Petroleum Education tax like it’s done in the United Arab Emirates,  UAE. The Petroleum institute is like the PTI in the  UAE.

LOCs are divesting from the country at the time you came as president of your alumni,any challenge for you?



Again it takes us  back to the  PIA Act. All players in the industry whether LOCs, IOCs when you get them  to pay a fragment for development of engineering  the PTI will benefit.

We have the Nigeria National Petroleum Company limited NNPCL, and  the primary assignment of the PTI should be to train technologists for NNPCL , it should not be negotiated.


It is when the PTI is not able to meet the demands that the NNPCL  should search for manpower in other areas. This was how I met the PTI when I was there.

The NNPC training school should be domiciled in the PTI.

I am happy Mr President is merging agencies of government. In the merger of the agencies of government the NNPCL should not have a Training school. The IOCs should not have a Training school.

The government should direct their training schools to be domiciled in the PTI.

The original focus of the PTI was to train for middle level manpower in the oil and gas sector so what’s the state now ?

This was what I raised with the Principal/Chief Executive Dr Adimula.  The PTI came up in 1972 as at then the PTI ran certificate and National Diploma programmes. However subsequently Higher National Diploma, HND programmes were introduced . So currently the PTI is training competent technology manpower for low, medium and senior. There should be an amendment to the PTI Act to reflect the current reality.


My appeal to Mr President is that politics should not come into the PTI.  The government should give adequate funding to the PTI, compel  the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF to fund the PTI adequately, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TEtFund should do same .

Mr President should see the PTI as one instrument to up- scale his achievements. The Ministry of Petroleum resources should fund the PTI.


Mr President  should also engage the alumni in finding solutions to challenges in the oil and gas sector. They can be part of government panels and committees to provide solutions . We have many of our graduands that are playing great roles in the oil and gas sector  across the globe.



The current National president of  Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Pengassan, Engr Festus Osifo  is a product of the PTI. So you see we have many of   the right persons that can help government add value to the oil and gas sector.

What is the relationship between PTI and the Federal University of Petroleum Resources , FUPRE ?

It is cordial. FUPRE,  is a petroleum university with other courses but the PTI is a focused institute, specialized institute , streamlined  for the oil and gas industry.



Finally I am an ambassador of the PTI, representing the institute outside. I am a Senior Rig Manager in  Abu dhabi National Oil  company, ADNOC,  which is  like our NNPCL here.


It’s my certificate from the PTI that I used to get a managerial role at the ADNOC



I have won Rig Manager of the year with ADNOC twice.



We have a Senior Safety Manager in Golf  Drilling international , GDI, so we have many of our people across.

We will contribute meaningfully to growth and development of the oil  and gas sector of the nation’s economy as alumni of the PTI.
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