- Safiu Kehinde
No fewer than 133 graduates have been fully employed after their completion of the internship programme organized by Shell Company in partnership with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Monday.
As contained in statement made available to NPO Reports, a total of 170 graduates benefitted from the Graduate Internship programme.
In the course of the internship, they were attached to indigenous technical oilfield service companies in the upstream and downstream sectors for hands-on experience.
According to the statement, the employment of the 133 interns by the companies indicated the success of the programme as a talent pipeline for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
The latest batch of 49 intake graduated at a ceremony in Port Harcourt early this month after completing their internship which began in 2022.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Wole Ogunsanya, commended the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) Joint Venture for the support for the programme which it is helping to build local manpower for a critical sector of the economy.
SPDC and PETAN had jointly set up the programme in 2014 whereby young graduates are attached to the over 100 member companies of the organisation with SPDC paying them monthly stipends.
From 2022 when the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) joined the collaboration, the programme has run for two years with 100 intakes.
The NCDMB/PETAN/SPDC JV Graduate Internship programme has been lauded as a key human capital development initiative which is central to the promotion of Nigerian content in the oil and gas industry.
On his part, SPDC’s General Manager Nigerian Content, Lanre Olawuyi, stated that the internship aligned with SPDC’s broader educational initiatives, contributing significantly to the actualisation of the UNESCO ‘Education for All’ agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta.
“The internship is more than a learning opportunity. It provides fresh graduates with technical expertise, and equipping them with the practical skills needed to excel in their careers. It aligns with SPDC’s broader educational initiatives, contributing significantly to the actualisation of the UNESCO ‘Education for All’ agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta.
“We owe the success of the programme to the untiring support of our JV partners, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC,) TotalEnergies and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited for which we’re grateful.” he said.