By Jimitota Onoyume

PORT HARCOURT —  NIGER Deltans have been told to go for the right skills if they want to enjoy the gains from the oil resources in the region.

Speaking yesterday at the flag off of a training programme for welders, organised by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in partnership with the Nigerian Institute of Welding at the Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Warri, the President, Nigerian Institute of Welding, Mr Solomon Edebiri said, “at the moment, the region is lagging behind in the relevant skills necessary to drive the oil industry.”

He urged the programme’s funding partner, the NDDC, to assist in training youths in some of these areas,  which he listed as underwater welding, fabrication engineering, competent fitters’ technicians, among others.

According to Solomon, “if we say we own the resource and need control, we must possess the required skill to control the development and this I must say is a challenge to the NDDC.”

Edebiri also thanked the NDDC for donating a 500KVA generator and 15  units of multi-process welding equipment,  which were commissioned at the event, adding that with the equipments,  youths from the region would now be trained in over eight processes of welding.

He explained that the 25 welders   being trained as trainers at the Petroleum Training Institute would benefit largely from the equipments.  At the end of their training at the PTI he said,  they would move over to South African Institute of Welding, SAIW.