Nigerian oil, gas trainers face dearth of opportunities

Oil and gas trainers in Nigeria will be badly hit by the twin challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic and low oil price as most training programmes will no longer hold, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Mr Simbi Wabote, has said.

Wabote said there would be delayed learning interventions, loss of businesses, revenue and jobs.

He, therefore, advised companies handling trainings in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to reposition themselves and redesign their training modules so as to overcome the challenges.

He gave the advice on Thursday while speaking in a webinar organised by the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria, according to a statement on Sunday.

Wabote said most trainings would likely take place in virtual classrooms and would require virtual machines, simulators and dongles.

He added that such trainings would demand high cost of set-up, but the operational cost would be lower over time and learning costs would become cheaper.

He, however, said virtual learning models might lead to lower assimilation by the trainees and reduced profits for the companies at the onset.

According to Wabote, the prevailing circumstances will lead to stoppage and cancellation of training programmes, delay in payments, reduction in the number or trainees and higher cost of administering programmes.

He said there might be “abandonment of physical classrooms despite huge investments already made, need for new capitalisation to acquire infrastructure, absence of high speed internet and need for retraining of faculties.”

He also warned there would be shortage of training opportunities because of lack of new projects in the industry and the crash in oil price.

Wabote said the new regime of virtual training would attract new and global competitors with advanced technologies.

He advised local players to explore collaborations, international accreditations, quality, cost and differentiation.

For ongoing trainings, he urged OGTAN members to implement COVID-19 safety measures, redesign time-table and number of trainees per class, provide personal protective equipment and redesign on-the-job trainings and laboratory events.