Minister’s aide harps on training of oil, gas professionals

Mr Justice Derefaka, Technical Adviser, Gas Business and Policy Implementation to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.

By Solomon Asowata

Mr Justice Derefaka, Technical Adviser, Gas Business and Policy Implementation to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has stressed the need for training and retraining of oil and gas professionals in the country.

Derefaka said this was the only way for them to cope and remain relevant as the world moves toward the fourth industrial revolution.

He spoke on Wednesday at the 2022 Annual General Meeting lecture series of the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria ( OGTAN).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the lecture was theme: ‘Diversity and Inclusiveness in Human Capital Development.’

“The 2018 graduate skills ranking by the World Economic Forum placed Nigeria at 135 out of 140 countries.

“This ranking highlighted the shortage and/or lack of the requisite skills, experience and knowledge required by the employing industries.

“As a country, as a workforce, we will need to adapt to this rapidly changing world. Infact, Nigeria needs to do catch up. And this is where OGTAN comes in,” he said.

According to him, OGTAN training models need to reflect the demand for lifelong learning to cope with the technological and social changes brought by the fourth industrial revolution.

Derefaka said: “OGTAN need to do more as skills not degrees may be the reality of the future.

“In a future of unprecedented societal shifts, human capacity development/up-skilling is crucial to managing the challenges ahead.

“With more automated, digitised and fluid job markets, today’s higher education systems are quickly becoming incompatible with the future we are looking towards.

“Let us do a quick catch up with training and retraining the workforce by riding on the shoulders of OGTAN.”

He charged oil and gas companies to drive a culture of innovation and technology adoption: create digitally powered, multidisciplinary teams.

Derefaka urged them to invest in human capital and development programmes: promote new, digital thinking – re-skilling or retraining workforce for the transformation journey.

He also emphasised the need for Diversity and Inclusiveness (D&I) in the industry, noting that available statistics showed that companies that value D&I in their operations outperformed their competitors. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)