FG expends N112m on 146 power graduate trainees

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Power, Dr. Godknows Igali, at the induction of the trainees yesterday in Abuja said the fee for the one year programme costs up to N750,000. This translates to over N112million being spent for 150 trainees of which 146 were listed in the induction brochure obtained by Daily Trust.
Director General of the training institute, the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Engr. Reuben Okeke, said more than 60percent of the 243 trained pioneering graduates under the programme have been absorbed into the power sector since November 2013.
“More than 60percent of these set of 243 trainees who completed their training and graduated in November 2013, have been absorbed into the power sector and gainfully employed,” he said.
He disclosed that the 285 others who graduated in the second batch last November “are being selected for employment in the ongoing recruitment by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).”
Available records show that 8,400 skilled employees will be required immediately to sustain the post privatisation expansion of the sector while 17,441 additional manpower will be required within five years.
The 146 graduates who were sponsored by the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) comprise 141 male with only five female graduates having tertiary backgrounds in electrical, electronic, and mechanical engineering fields.
Having sponsored 220 graduates in the programme’s Batch A in May 2014, SURE-P Chairman, Gen. Martin Luther Agwai, said the trainees were sponsored under the Project Implementation Unit for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) within the Ministry of Labour and Productivity.
“The programme is planned to equip 150 young mechanical and Elect/Elect engineering graduates with necessary and essential skills for taking up available job spaces and building capacity for the power sector,” he said.