ABUJA – The Chairman, Subsidy Reinvestment Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), retired Gen. Martin-Luther Agwai, has pledged to service the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) to improve power supply nationwide.
Agwai made this known when he received Mr Reuben Okeke, NAPTIN’s Director-General in his office in Abuja on Monday.
He said that the Federal Government was determined to ensure adequate power supply to the populace to prop the nation’s economy.
“For this country to move to the next level we need adequate power supply, but that can’t happen overnight because we need trained manpower, adequate equipment and a conducive environment for learning for trainees.[eap_ad_2]
“The Federal Government realised how important these things are that it created SURE-P and the partial withdrawal will be judiciously utilised to move us forward as a nation,’’ Agwai said.
He told his visitors that N268.37 billion was budgeted for 2014’s programmes, adding that the money had been judiciously assigned to ongoing road projects across the country.
The SURE-P chairman, however, promised to convey some of NAPTIN concerns to the government.
“We may not meet all your requirements, but we would give you support in the budget created for 2015 and provide something meaningful to keep the power sector moving.’’
Earlier, the director-general informed the SURE-P chairman that he came to seek support for adequate training of manpower in the power sector.
“The PHCN was faced with a large aged workforce who had no training since 1989, and this was later compounded by embargo on employment in the years that followed.
“It is necessary to have the workforce Mr President needs to take the power sector to the desired level.
“Our school of wiring and training need hostels to train people on domestic installation and wiring in order to eliminate the problem of fire incidents across the country.
“We need student hostels in Kaduna, Jos, Kano and Oji (in Enugu State) and we need training equipment in all these locations,’’ Okeke said.
He said that students would be drawn from skilled people who were unable to attend tertiary institutions and trained in specific courses on wiring and installation.
Okeke thanked SURE-P for collaborating with NAPTIN to train 218 graduate trainees. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]
