The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has promised to work closely with other key industry partners to ensure full time engagement of its Post Training Attachment (PTA) graduates.

Bello Gusau, Executive Secretary of PTDF, made the promise on Friday in Kaduna at the close-out ceremony of the 25 PTDF trainees at Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

He said the training programme is conceived as a stop-gap intervention to ensure that beneficiaries of the PTDF training are introduced to practical on-the-job experience upon conclusion of the training to ensure that skills acquired during such trainings are not lost due to redundancy.

“Please be informed that the PTDF is working closely with other key industry partners to ensure you are considered for full time engagement through the Industry Joint Qualification System (JQS) being hosted and managed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), wherein your full data and qualification will be listed for consideration by industry stakeholders for employment,” Gusau said.

“The PTA programme also affords players in the industry like the KRPC the opportunity to engage and utilise the skills and services of these trainees in the maintenance and development of their plants,” he added.

The Executive Secretary disclosed that PTDF is currently engaging all the refineries in the country in the PTA programme, in addition to some key private sector organisations.

“We currently have 19 trainees in Warri and six as first batch in Port Harcourt refineries, in addition to the 25 we are graduating here today,” he said.

While commending KRPC for the support and feedback given to PTDF on the programme, Gusau appealed to KRPC to consider the trainees for full engagement as direct employees or in conjunction with the Refineries other partners.

He expressed hope that the experience received by the graduating trainees would serve as an additional incentive to contribute to the development of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

In his remarks, Abdullahi Idris, the Executive Director Services (EDS) of KRPC, said the collaboration with PTDF would continue in the development of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

Usman Nasidi, representative of the graduates, while expressing appreciation, called on PTDF to follow up on the promise of full time engagement in industries.

“On behalf of my colleagues, I will like to express my profound gratitude to PTDF and KRPC for seeing us through a successfully training. We are looking forward to seeing that, you fulfill the promise for our full time engagement in industries,” Nasidi said.

•Photo by Garba Ahmed shows KPRC Managing Director, Engr. Adawale Ladenegan (right), presenting a certificate to Malam Bashir Abdulmumini during closing ceremony of 25 PTDF trainees on welding internship, on Friday at KRPC.