President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the nine engineering lecturers who received the government’s sponsorship to Canada to specialise in pipe fitting and welding to be models of excellence.
The President also urged them to train more Ghanaians to cut down on expatriate costs in the country’s oil and gas sector. He was speaking at Jubilee House on Tuesday, this week, during a meeting with the nine engineering lecturers who had been trained in Canada and returned upon completion.
President Akufo-Addo stressed on the huge sums of money the government spends to engage expatriates to carry out specialised work, such as pipe fitting, mechanical technician and welding, among others, in the sector. “We are going to cut down, as part of the huge investment being made in the oil and gas sector, the monies paid to expatriates with such skills, and prove that Ghanaian skills are as good as those anywhere else in the world.”
He was happy to see that they had all returned home, and reminded them of the role they had to play as pioneers. He indicated that the training given them was a very important step by the government in the development of the oil and gas industry.
He welcomed the lecturers, drawn from several technical universities across the country, and assured them of the government’s continued support.
COMMISSION’S CEO
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Commission, Egbert Faibille, who led the team to meet the President, said that they underwent 11 months of training in pipe fittings and also had advanced certification in welding and mechanical technician. He further stated that the programme formed part of efforts to deepen the participation of Ghanaians in the oil and gas sector, particularly the upstream petroleum industry.
The nine people who embarked on the training consisted two women and seven men. They are Emmanuel Marcus Abaidoo, Daniel Kyei-Kankam, and Frank Nana Osei, all from the Takoradi Technical University, and Isaac Oppong from the Kikam Technical Institute.
Abdul Hamid Mohammed from Tamale Technical University, Wise Kwashie Klomegah from Ho Technical University, Samuel Garriba from Cape Coast Technical University, and Gladys Perpetual Awudi from Koforidua Technical University.
BACKGROUND
Since independence, there has been no technical institutions in this country that train and certified pipe fitters, and when the need arises, expatriates are brought in at a great cost to the nation. In January this year, the Petroleum Commission sponsored nine engineering lecturers from various public technical universities in the country to receive specialised training at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Canada, under the ‘Master Instructor Framework’ to enhance their teaching skills.
The sponsorship was under the government’s Accelerated Oil and Gas Capacity (AOGC) programme, established to enhance the capacity of Ghanaians to enable them work in the oil and gas sector.
